Atsuko Kagari and the School For Witches
by Private Winters
Summary: After watching one of Shiny Chariot's performances as a little girl, Kagari Atsuko became motivated to follow in her idol's footsteps, and enrolled in the same school that Chariot studied at. But all sorts of hilarity ensues when she finds out that studying magic is actually less exciting than she thought. Formerly called "Luna Nova: School For Witches".
1. A Believing Heart

**Tokyo, Japan**

**Year 2006**

Tokyo has always been a busy city regardless of day or night, with the streets often flooded by people going about with their daily lives.

But today, one particular section of the Japanese capital is much busier than it has always been.

A huge crowd, packed as tightly as a can of sardines, gathered in front of a grandiose stage set up in the middle of Tokyo Central Park. Such an elaborate setup is usually reserved for Japan's pop stars and idol groups, but in this case, the star of the show is from another country altogether.

Seven-years old Kagari Atsuko strolled excitedly into the venue, escorted by her parents who found it somewhat difficult to keep an eye on their little daughter amidst the tightly packed crowd.

"Mom, dad, hurry up, or we're going to miss the performance!" Little Atsuko told her parents as she continued moving through the crowd, dragging her parents along.

"Slow down, Akko! We can't run as fast as you can!" Mrs. Kagari said as she tried her best to push through the crowd and follow her daughter.

Little Atsuko continued moving forward, but as she is not seeing where she is going, she soon gets knocked over by a large person, and face-planted on the ground.

Mr. and Mrs. Kagari gasped at the sight of their daughter falling over, as they moved to help her get up.

"I'm alright!" Atsuko said as she picked herself up from the ground no worse for the wear, then swiped dirt and grass off her face. "Is she here yet?"

The parents are relieved that their daughter are fine, but can help but chuckle at her priorities.

"Don't worry, my girl. She will be here." Mr. Kagari reassured.

The crowd is packed the tightest over here, but there is still enough space for Atsuko to see the stage, which at the moment is still vacant.

"So thrilling and exciting!" Atsuko said, anxious to watch the show she came all the way from Osaka for.

...

**Meanwhile, at the backstage...**

"Where on earth is Miss Du Nord?"

The manager of the event tapped his foot impatiently as he looked at his watch.

"Well, she was sometimes late for class back in school..." A woman with short lilac hair told him.

"But this isn't school, lady." The manager replied, tapping his watch to emphasize the time. "She should have been here 10 minutes ago. Now it's one minute before the show is schedule to start, and she hasn't arrived yet."

"Has she?" The lilac-haired woman said as she looked up at the sky.

The Big Dipper constellation is shining unusually bright tonight...

...

**Back at the crowd.**

The crowd grew thicker with each second that passed by, and with that, Atsuko's excitement grew as well.

It was less than a minute before the show is supposed to start, and much of the crowd is already getting impatient. Even the security guards and the crew who set up the stage are starting to wonder if the star of the show is ever going to show up.

Atsuko decided to pass the time by looking up at the sky and counting the stars. As she is about to start counting, she immediately noticed that seven of the stars are shining unusually bright.

Too bright to be natural, in fact.

That is when the unusual stars actually started moving, merging into a single larger star before turning into a beam of light that shot down toward the stage, creating a brilliant flash of light that caused the crowd to instinctively cover their eyes.

The brilliant flash of light faded away as quickly as it happened. Someone seemed to have popped into existence on the stage at precisely where the beam had struck. This appeared to be a woman clad in white, with an equally white witch hat decorated with a four-pointed star sitting on her head.

The woman raised her head to look at the crowd, revealing her fiery red hair poking out from under her hat.

The crowd cheered loudly as soon as they saw the woman's face. She is the star of this show that everyone has been waiting for.

"Hello, Japan!" The woman greeted the crowd in Japanese. Though her slightly thick French accent made it rather cringe-worthy, that didn't stop the crowd from happily greeting her back. "And welcome to...THE WORLD OF MAGIC!" She then continued her greeting in English.

"Hello!" Atsuko greeted the star of the show separately from the crowd. Her excited expression is worthy of a sneaky photoshoot by her mother, though she should work on her English pronunciation a bit.

Mr. Kagari noticed that the star of the show sounded like she is speaking through a microphone, despite the fact that she is neither carrying a microphone nor wearing a headset. The father wondered how she was able to do that.

"Let's start with an introduction, shall we?" The redheaded woman announced. "My name is Chariot Du Nord, but you probably know me as-"

"SHINY CHARIOT!" Chanted loudly a pack of Chinese tourists, who collectively held up a banner with Chariot's stage name printed on it over their heads.

"Well, it appears that I'm very popular in Asia~" Shiny Chariot noted.

Particles of light then began to gather around the redheaded woman's raised left hand, which then formed into a staff with seven gemstones arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper.

Everyone in the crowd, including Atsuko, immediately recognized it as the Shiny Rod, Shiny Chariot's iconic staff.

"Then let the show begin!" Chariot announced. "_**Arae Aryha**_"

With a wave of the Shiny Rod, Chariot conjured a tidal wave from right in front of the stage, and sent to splashing toward the crowd.

All of the crowd gasped and quickly held their breaths before the tidal wave struck. It was, however, only a few seconds before everyone realized that the tidal wave is just an illusion.

The illusory tidal wave is then replaced by an astral plane filled with constellations of all kinds. The crowd began to murmur at the amazing display surrounding them. The children among the crowd, in particular a blonde-haired European girl sitting a few rows behind the Kagaris, clapped their hands in amazement.

Atsuko, mouth wide open, looked around the astral plane with awe. There was only so much that her little red eyes could take in at a time...

Everyone then noticed that while the stage is still fully visible, the woman conjuring the illusion has disappeared. People started to wonder where she is.

They got their answers almost immediately when Chariot emerged from a splash of illusory water behind the crowd, in the form of a mermaid, "swimming" across the astral plane in all her great finesse. Then with a flash of light, she transformed herself into a butterfly-winged pixie, dancing across the illusory stars. After that, she transformed again, this time into a centaur, galloping across a path of light that simply appeared out of thin air.

The amazed crowd began to take pictures of the performance with their cameras and smartphones. All of this is just too amazing to not make a record of.

Chariot finished her transformation sequences by hopping onto the stage, transforming back into her human form.

The crowd cheered loudly, with congratulations being shouted in what sounded like a dozen different languages. Or at least that's what Atsuko thought, since she only understood Japanese and a little English at the moment.

Chariot dispelled the illusion, then bowed to initiate a curtain call. But she quickly noticed something off the distance that made her narrow her eyebrows. "Oh, my! What is _that_?" She said, in an obvious attempt to direct the crowd's attention to it.

Approaching the performance venue from the sky is a chubby-looking, but massive dragon. It is very obviously not a real dragon, though whether it is a balloon, an animatronic, or a hologram is impossible to tell from the ground. But that didn't stop the dragon from looking intimidating.

"Oh no! It's an evil dragon! But don't worry, I will take care of it!" Chariot announced, before somersaulting several feet into the air and landing on the roof of the stage. She then raised the Shiny Rod over her head.

"_**Noctu Orfei Aude Fraetor**_"

With the words spoken, the Shiny Rod melted into a mass of light particles, before reforming itself into the shape of a longbow, with an arrow already nocked on the bowstring.

Chariot drew the bowstring and then aimed it at the approaching dragon.

All of a sudden, sparks exploded from one of the spotlights hanging above the stage, before the other spotlights died out, and the loudspeakers stopped playing the bombastic music that accompanied the performance. The dragon also came to a halt in midair at the exact same time, so now the crowd can tell that it's an animatronic.

The crowd gasped at the sudden malfunction of stage equipment, and going by Chariot's exasperated frown (with Shiny Rod in longbow form still drawn and aimed at the dragon), this apparently isn't supposed to happen.

"Croix...?" Chariot whispered to someone out of sight.

...

**The backstage**

"Sorry, that was me!" The lilac-haired woman apologized to Chariot via a headpiece. "I'm trying to get it back online right now!"

At the same time, the manager buried his face in his palms while sparks rained down around him.

...

**Back at the crowd...**

Atsuko can't help but giggle at the unexpected malfunction, though she, along with much of the crowd, are anxious about whether Chariot and her crew can get the issue sorted out.

Apparently they can. While the stage's spotlights remain broken, the bombastic music soon resumed playing from the loudspeaker.

And with that, the animatronic dragon started moving again as well.

Chariot was glad that the performance can continue in time. She was pretty worried that the crowd might get bored (and that it is very tough to keep a longbow drawn for an extended period of time). She turned her attention back on the dragon, eyes narrowed as she focused on it and prepared to fire the arrow.

"SHINY...ARC!"

She then released the bowstring, sending the arrow flying out with a trail of light particles in its wake toward the dragon, right as it opened its massive mouth. The arrow flew straight into the dragon's open mouth.

What happened next is that as the dragon swallowed the arrow and closed its mouth, it began to expand in a comical manner, like a balloon getting over-inflated.

Soon after, the dragon exploded in a brilliant display of light and fireworks, bringing amazement to everyone watching the performance.

"Well, that was an amazing show, wasn't it? Despite the unexpected problems..." Chariot said to her audience as she transformed the Shiny Rod back into its original form.

A loud, unified "YEAH!" came from the direction of the crowd, followed by the sound of hands clapping.

Chariot jumped back onto the stage, landing on her two feet.

"Now, before we end all this, I would like to offer my thanks to all those who sponsored this show and made it possible," Chariot started speaking for the end of the performance. "Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy for making me who I am today," She then pointed the Shiny Rod at the crowd. "and you all for being my greatest fans!" She lowered the Shiny Rod. "But most importantly: my friend who has always been by my side. Thank you, Croix..."

With one last wave of Shiny Rod, Chariot created another brilliant flash of light exactly like the one she arrived in. And with that, the redheaded woman disappeared, leaving a crowd of amazed people of all ages and nationalities.

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic." Chariot's voice lingered around for a bit longer to form these words, even though the woman herself is no longer present.

While the crowd started talking about how good of a show they've just watched, most of them missed a tiny ball of light slowly descending toward the ground. Except for Atsuko, who jumped up excitedly to catch it.

The tiny ball of light hovered in the little Japanese girl's palms before dissolving into thin air. She was bummed that she couldn't keep it as a souvenir, but she is nevertheless satisfied.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Mr. and Mrs. Kagari knelt down and asked their daughter.

Atsuko held her hands to her chest, then answered with a happy nod.

"When I grow up, I want to become a witch, just like Shiny Chariot!"

* * *

Hello, _Little Witch Academia_!

Long story short: I got into contact with the precious gem that is _Little Witch Academia_ a few months ago, and needless to say, it hooked me in just as easily as _Touhou Project_ did years ago.

Heck, I even have OCs who are ersatzes of Akko and company in my _Touhou Project_ fan remake, _Young Maiden's Chronicles_ (one of them's even called Ako, for the Nines' sake).

Anyway, in much the same way how _Young Maiden's Chronicles_ is my fan remake of _Touhou Project_, this fic and its sequels are going to be my fan remake of _Little Witch Academia_. Of course, as a remake, there are going to be many differences from canon.

Any reviews and constructive criticisms are appreciated. Though if you criticize the story without giving a reason why it deserved criticizing, I'll take it as a spam and delete it.

By the way, underlines in this story indicate dialogues that are spoken in foreign languages, and unless the readers are not supposed to understand what is being said, they will always be translated.

Oh right! For those of you who follow _Young Maiden's Chronicles_, this is the secret project I'm talking about.

With that said, enjoy the story!

"And remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	2. Starting Over Again

**Blytonbury, southern England.**

**Year 2019**

_"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at Blytonbury Station. Please ensure that your baggage are safely secure before disembarking, and mind the gap between the platform and the train when disembarking. Thank you for taking this train. We hope to see you again soon."_

Despite the warning given by the announcer mere seconds ago, one of the passengers couldn't help but run out of the train in excitement.

"This is it! I'm finally here! This is so thrilling and exciting!"

Everyone on the platform spared a glance at this Japanese girl who seems to be excited about something, watching her twirling around in place until she collapsed out of dizziness.

"Akko, dear, you don't have to be so excited about it..." Says the girl's mother as she exited the train in an orderly manner.

Akko quickly got back up to her feet. "But I'm so close to Luna Nova, where Shiny Chariot studied!"

"You are probably the only person I know to be so excited about going to a boarding school." Says Akko's father as he dragged the girl's luggage out of the train.

The Kagari family, with their luggage in tow, then made their way out of the train station.

"Alright, let's recap what we've planned..." Mr. Kagari said as he pulled a scrapbook out of his shirt pocket, and went through the checklist written on it. "Akko, you are going to be on your own for the next six months. But for the first seven days, your mother and I will be living in a hotel room in Blytonbury..."

"So the two of you can watch over me for the time being, and I can call you if needed. Right?" Akko finished the rest of the sentence for her father.

"Well, that's just half of it..." Mr. Kagari said. "For the other half, we-"

"For the other half of the plan, we will be touring around Blytonbury as tourists, so we don't have to deal with the hassle of having to come all the way here from Japan, only to go home after just a day." Mrs. Kagari quickly interrupted. It was clear that she made up most of it on the spot, and that Mr. Kagari didn't actually plan it.

But Akko didn't care, as it isn't her business as to what her parents want to do. "So, that's it?"

Mr. Kagari pocketed the scrapbook nervously. "Uh, ye-yes, that's it..."

"By the way, Akko..." Mrs. Kagari then raised a point. "How is your English? You know almost no one in England speaks Japanese..."

Akko raised her right hand and did the peace sign. "Don't worry, I can manage!" She answered with grammatically correct English, albeit still having a noticeable Japanese accent. It's not cringe-worthy, but it is still enough to cause a few passing-by pedestrians to do a double take.

"I'm pretty sure the accent's going to be a problem..." Mr. Kagari pointed out.

...

With everything done, Akko waved goodbye to her parents as she departed with her luggage bag in tow.

The Luna Nova brochure she has came with instructions on how to reach the campus. But as Akko is unfamiliar with the landmarks of Blytonbury, she decided that she should ask the townspeople for directions, just in case.

"Hello, do you know which way is to Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy?"

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I can wait for the bus that goes to Luna Nova?"

"Hi, do you know how to get to Luna Nova?"

Unfortunately for the Japanese girl, nobody could answer her question. The only responses she got are shrugs or "No idea."

And so, Akko sat down on a bench at a park, with the brochure wide open as she tries to get heads and tails of the instructions and map given.

"Is this brochure outdated, or has Luna Nova always been this vague with instructions?" She mumbled to herself as she scrutinized the brochure for details she might have missed.

The instructions given by the brochure said to go to a "Leyline Terminal", which is indicated by a photo and the accompanying map to be an old-looking structure covered with vines and small trees. That leaves Akko wondering where the so-called "Leyline Terminal" could be.

Sighing, Akko takes her eyes off the brochure briefly to complain about the vagueness of the instructions.

That's when she laid her eyes on the small hill a bit of a distance from where she is...

On top of said hill is an old-looking structure covered with vines and small trees, just like the one shown in the brochure.

"Oh. It was right there in such an obvious place. How did I not notice?"

Smiling about having just found the "Leyline Terminal", Akko stood up from the bench and took hold of her luggage before starting to run toward the structure.

Although she didn't get to run very far before having to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by a...go-kart? Which appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey, Cons, can't this thing go any faster? I though German engineering was much better than this!" One of the passengers is heard saying before the vehicle left the scene as quickly as it came.

Akko blinked, wondering what is up with that go-kart and its passengers...and then groaned as she noticed that her luggage bag was knocked over by the go-kart, damaging it and spilling its contents all over the place.

...

After gathering all the contents of her luggage and tidying up everything (the luggage is thankfully not in too bad of a shape, though she might have to explain to her parents how the zipper and combination lock got ripped apart by the impact with the go-kart), Akko made her way to the small hill where the Leyline Terminal sits on, all while being careful of anything else that might appear out of nowhere.

"What is with those people anyway? They can't possibly be Luna Nova students, can they?" She mumbled to herself while climbing the small hill.

As she reached the top of the small hill, she noticed three girls standing by the Leyline Terminal, each holding broomsticks and wearing what she recognized as the official school uniform of Luna Nova. They seem to be chatting with each other in English.

"So what have the two of you been doing during summer?" One of them, a girl with with short purple hair, asked the other two, presumably her friends. She seems to be holding a smartphone in a way that suggests she is doing a live-stream.

"I spent all summer binge-watching all the movie franchises I could find." Answered the girl with dark blue hair tied into a ponytail. "_Star Wars_, _Star Trek_, _Back to the Future_, _Terminator_... you name it. Though I was only halfway done with the _Marvel Cinematic Universe_..."

"And I spent all summer looking for a boyfriend on a dating site~" Answered the blonde girl with twin drill hair.

"Yet you are still single." The purple-haired girl pointed out.

"By the way, Avery," The ponytail girl changed the topic. "have you heard the rumors that a Muggle was enrolled into Luna Nova this semester?"

"No way, a Muggle?" The purple-haired girl, Avery, became surprised. "You sure about this, Mary?"

"That's what I heard..." The ponytail girl, Mary, confirmed. "Apparently she's from Japan...?"

"A Muggle, as in someone without any magic capabilities?" The twin-drill girl wondered. "Why would they let her in...?"

Meanwhile, Akko, who overheard the conversation, knew full well who these girls are talking about. She slowly turned around and tried to sneak away from them.

Although her sneaky behavior immediately caught the attention of the girls.

"You there! What are you doing?" Avery called out to Akko.

_Drat. There's no getting out of this now..._ Akko thought.

The Japanese girl slowly turned back toward the trio. She then nervously raised a hand to wave at them.

"H-hello," Akko greeted them in a fluent but still accented English. "I-I'm a new student at Luna Nova..."

Avery and her friends immediately noticed Akko's Japanese accent. "So the Muggle who enrolled into Luna Nova was you."

"Yeah, I am." Akko answered. "So, this is where we wait for the bus that will take us to Luna Nova?"

There was initially nothing about Akko that Avery and her friends found worth laughing about. But now the Japanese girl just provided it herself.

"_Bus_? Hahahaha! You really _are_ a Muggle!" The trio laughed in unison.

Akko frowned. She may still not have a full grasp of English, but she knows an insult when she hears one.

"You see these brooms we're carrying?" Avery said as she pointed at her broomstick. "That's because this is a _broom_ stop, and you get to Luna Nova by riding a broom through it."

With that said, Avery and her friends brought their broomsticks to bear. Then...

"_**Tia Freyle**_"

Akko watched in amazement as the three girls started flying on their broomsticks.

"And this is how you fly a broom, _normie_!" Avery said as she and her friends floated away from Akko toward the Leyline Terminal. "See you at Luna Nova! Assuming you can even get there, of course~"

Not impressed by the first three Luna Nova students she met, Akko followed them - leaving behind her luggage bag - into the Leyline Terminal.

As the Japanese girl entered the old-looking structure, she saw Avery and her friends hovering right under a magical portal where the structure's ceiling should be.

Avery herself is holding her smartphone out with the screen facing towards her while her friends are hovering behind her. Apparently, she is doing a live-stream, and the fiasco just now has probably been seen by whoever are watching the stream right now.

"Well, that's it for my video blog today, everyone!" Avery said for her live-stream. For some reason, she donned what sounded like a very stereotypical Canadian accent (even though her accent is otherwise normal) for her live-stream. "I would like to continue, but had to end it right here since there are no receptions inside a Leyline. These are my friends, Mary Robinson, from the UK-"

"Keep calm, and carry on~" Mary greeted for the live-stream.

"-and Blair Streiga, from Italy." Avery introduced her other friend.

"Ciao~" The twin-drill girl, Blair, greeted for the live-stream.

"This is Avery Buckland, signing off. I'll see you all again tomorrow." Avery then capped off the live-stream, right before she and her friends vanished into the portal.

Akko is left standing by herself in the Leyline Terminal.

"What a bunch of jerks!" Akko, angry from being insulted by Avery, cursed in her native language, and tried to vent her anger by punching the wall of the Leyline Terminal.

In the process of doing so, she managed to both knock a small chunk out of the stone structure and hurt her knuckles.

...

This did not go as she initially planned. At all.

Things went off the rails when that go-kart smashed into and broke her luggage bag. Then upon arriving at the Leyline Terminal, she got insulted by a trio of Luna Nova students for being a "Muggle" and mistakenly thinking the Terminal is a bus stop. _And then_ she finds out you need to know how to fly a broom to be able to get to Luna Nova in the first place. And she doesn't even have a broom, never mind the know-how to fly one!

In spite of all those setbacks, Akko didn't come all the way to England only to give up and disappoint her parents. And for god's (which god was it again?) sake, she is going to make it to Luna Nova, whatever it takes!

So here she is, trying to climb up the Leyline Terminal by using the vines and tree roots as stepladders. But man, all those movies, especially that one with the guy called Spider-Man, made climbing tall structures look a lot easier than it actually is (though Spider-Man admittedly has superpowers). It took her half an hour to climb a quarter of what the heroes of the aforementioned movies would've done in a few minutes.

Not helping Akko's case is the fact that her right hand is still sore from punching the stone walls of the Terminal, and it was that very moment that her right hand gave out, causing her to almost fall off and lose all her progress in the climb to reach the portal. Good thing she was able to quickly grab a vine with her left hand just in time.

"What will mom and dad think of if they saw me like this?" She wondered as she stopped to catch her breath.

Unfortunately, her short breath-catching session is rendered shorter when the vine she is holding on to snapped.

With nothing to support her, the Japanese girl immediately slipped from the thin tree root that her feet could barely get a firm grip on, and fell all the way to the ground, landing with a loud thud.

"Perkele!"

Ouch, that hurts. Good thing she is tougher than most people (a trait that apparently all witches and wizards have, which makes Akko one, so take that, Avery!), or else she'd have broken a few bones and heavily bruised her head _at best_. But wait, it sounds like she startled someone upon hitting the ground. Was she not alone?

Akko shook her head a bit to clear up the disorientation that came from falling several feet and landing on solid rock. As she opened her eyes, she found herself looking into another pair of eyes. A pair behind large round glasses lens...

* * *

Whew, that is a lot to write after a month of hiatus.

Anyway, here's the second chapter of _Luna Nova: School For Witches_, where Akko gets mocked by Avery, Mary, and Blair (instead of Avery, Hannah, and Barbara), and then meets a certain Finnish cinnamon roll...

You've probably noticed that Akko is 20 years old rather than (roughly) 16 in this story (with her being seven years old in 2006, and then time-skipping to 2019). While I have made everyone around that age in this story, I have a specific reason for applying it to Akko, which I will reveal much later into the story.

Also, Avery's, Mary's, and Blair's last names are totally _**not**_ my ideas. I saw them in Superevilbadguy's _Bats and Brooms: The Luna Nova Fast Pitch Witches_, and found the idea to be so interesting that I've decided to incorporate them into this story. That being said, credit where it's due. I also plan on giving _all_ the Background Witches last names, in case you're wondering.

And that's it. With whatever's causing my month-long hiatus IRL having been deal with once and for all, I can get back to making the intended weekly updates for this story, as well as my other ones (providing that Writer's Block doesn't strike me in the meantime).

With that said, I hope you enjoyed the story, and any constructive criticisms are appreciated.

"And remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterword ends here._


	3. Through the Leyline

**Leyline Terminal**

Large round glasses...

Akko found herself looking at a pair of eyes behind a pair large round glasses. Said pair of eyes belonged to a freckled girl with reddish-blonde hair, and is also wearing the school uniform of Luna Nova.

"O-oletko kunnossa?" Asked the girl in a foreign language. She seems more surprised than worried about Akko dropping down in front of her.

"Excuse me?" Akko asked back, not understanding the girl's foreign language. The Japanese girl then realized that she was speaking in Japanese. "I mean, excuse me?" She repeated in English.

"Um...I was asking if you're alright..." The glasses girl said in a slightly accented English, while she extended a hand toward Akko.

"Uh, yeah, I am." Akko answered back as she grabbed the glasses girl's hand, who helped her up. "Good thing witches are tough. Right?"

The glasses girl seemed to nod in agreement.

"So, you're going to Luna Nova too, right?" Akko changed the subject, taking notice of the glasses girl's uniform.

"Yes, of course." The glasses girl replied. "But you have to get to the matriculation ceremony in time, or else you will be expelled..." She then added, and shuddered at her own words.

Akko also shuddered upon hearing those words. She knows that European boarding schools are very strict, but she didn't expect Luna Nova to be this strict. She then frowned about the fact that...

"What's wrong?" The glasses girl asked Akko, before noticing why she frowned. "You...don't have your own broom?"

"I thought they were going to teach about broom-flying in class. I never thought I'd need to know that to even reach Luna Nova..." Akko said, looking defeated. "I tried to get around that by climbing the building and...that's how you found me just now..." She sighed.

The glasses girl looked at this girl from some far-eastern country who wanted to go to Luna Nova but never learned to fly a broom. She can't help but pity this girl...

"_**Tia Freyle**_" The glasses girl chanted as she straddled on her broom. With that, she began to levitate off the ground. "You can...ride with me if you want to..."

As if saved from a disaster, Akko jumped and hugged the glasses girl with utmost gratefulness. "ありがとう！ I mean, thank you so much!"

"Please...let...go..." The glasses girl struggled to speak amidst the crushing hug. "Can't...breathe..."

Akko quickly released the glasses girl from her hug. "Oh, sorry!" Without further adieu, she then ran out of the Leyline Terminal to grab her luggage ("Almost forgot about it!" Akko told herself) and ran back in. "I'm sorry again if it gets too heavy for you." She apologized in advance as she secured her luggage to the glasses girl's flying broom. "By the way, my name is Ka...Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko. What is yours?"

The glasses girl blinked. She's never had to introduce herself to someone she only just met for less than five minutes. "Um... Liselotte Jansson. But you can call me Lotte."

"Lotte, huh? That's pretty nice." Akko commented, though her Japanese accent made the L sound like an R. "Alright, then. Let's get going!"

...

The entry into the Leyline portal went off without a hitch.

Akko initially thought that two riders and a luggage might be too heavy for a flying broom, but Lotte is able to fly with no issues despite the additional load. And now the two girls are flying through the swirling green energy of a Leyline on their way to Luna Nova.

"So this is what the inside of a Leyline looked like..." Akko watched in amazement.

"Please be careful. If you fall off right now, you could end up somewhere you can never escape from." Lotte warned as she focused on steering her broom.

"Oh, right! Just like riding a motorbike!" Akko said as she held on to Lotte. She is reminded of the time back in Osaka when she hitched a ride on a neighbor's motorbike, and fell off at one point because she didn't hold on to the neighbor tightly enough. Good thing she wasn't injured back then, but she never rode another motorbike ever since. "By the way," She then changed the topic. "is this your first-year at Luna Nova?"

"Second, actually..." Lotte answered. "Why do you want to study at Luna Nova? You look like you came from a non-magical family..."

Akko immediately beamed at that question. "That's because I want to be like Chariot Du Nord!" She gleefully answered.

"_Shario...Dyunor..._?" Lotte repeated what Akko just said. It took her a while to realize that was a name that got mangled by Akko's Japanese accent. "Oh, you mean Shiny Chariot, the witch performer from France, right?"

"Of course!" Akko confirmed excitedly. "I watched one of Chariot's show when I was seven, and I was mesmerized by it! Since then, I've decided that I want to become a witch!"

"Well, that's...nice..." Lotte said with a shrug. She wanted to point out how Akko shouldn't be blindly worshiping her idol like that, but the glasses girl refrained because that would make her a hypocrite, as she practically worshiped her favorite novel series just as blindly.

All of a sudden, a turbulence struck the broom-flying girls, causing them to almost lose balance.

"What's going on?!" Akko, panicking, asked as she held on tightly. "Was it something I just said?! Is it because I have some pickled plums with me?!""

"It's not you!" Lotte, also panicking about the situation, replied to Akko. "Leyline tunnels experience turbulence from time to time! It's a random natural occurrence!"

Akko quickly noticed that the knot securing her luggage to Lotte's broom is about to come loose due to the violent jerking caused by the turbulence. Not willing to lose her luggage and all of its contents, Akko reached out and grabbed the handlebar with her right hand, while keeping her left hand tightly on the broom.

The turbulence saw no sign of weakening. In fact, it appears to be getting more intense with each passing second.

"Hang on tight!" Lotte told Akko as the turbulence got really bad.

Despite the turbulence threatening to throw her off, Akko refused to let go of her luggage or Lotte's broom.

"I didn't come all the way here just to give up!" Akko mentally told herself.

The turbulence has grown so intense it was like riding through a hurricane. Akko can even hear the screams of other witches flying through the Leyline as they too struggled to brace through the turbulence.

"I will get to Luna Nova, whatever it takes!" Akko, determined to achieve her goal, held on tightly as she shut her eyes and prepared for the worst.

The turbulence continued for god knows how long, and Akko held on for that long, never intending to let go...

...Until everything went completely silent. No turbulence, no panicking Lotte, no screaming witches...

There is just nothing.

Wondering if the turbulence is gone, Akko slowly opened her eyes, and found herself floating all alone in the middle of a black void. There was no sign of Lotte, or even her broom, anywhere.

"What is this...?"

All of a sudden, an orb of bright light flashed into existence before Akko. It hovered motionlessly in front of her for a few seconds before splitting into seven smaller star-like orbs that arranged themselves into a formation.

Akko recognized that formation instantly. "It's...the Big Dipper...Shiny Chariot's symbol. But what could it mean?"

Out of curiosity, the Japanese girl extended her right hand forward to touch the formation of stars. As her hand got close, the stars shone brilliantly, causing her to retract her hand and instinctively shield her eyes.

The brilliant shine is gone in a near instance. In its place is now a white staff with seven blue gems arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper.

Akko recognized the staff just as quickly as she did the Big Dipper earlier. "That's Chariot's staff, the Shiny Rod!" Without thinking much, she reached out and grabbed it, drawing it closer to her. "What is it doing here?" She wondered as she examined the staff.

"Akko, are you still there? AKKO!"

Lotte's frantic voice drew Akko's attention away from the Shiny Rod. And the next thing she knew, she's back in the Leyline tunnel, sitting right behind Lotte on her flying broom.

"What's going on?" Akko asked, confused about what had just happened.

"The turbulence went away in an instant, which is a good thing..." Lotte explained. "But I thought you passed out, so I tried to wake you up."

Lotte is right, the turbulence is completely gone, and the flight through the Leyline became smooth again. The other witches nearby have also stopped screaming, as they all sped up in an effort to get to their destination as quickly as possible.

Akko blinked in confusion. "Did I?" She asked

"For just a few seconds, maybe...?" Lotte answered.

Not willing to stay inside the Leyline for too long, Lotte commanded her broom to fly faster, just in case another turbulence is going to happen.

Akko spent the next minute wondering if that thing with the Shiny Rod moments ago is all just a hallucination...

...Until she looked down at her lowered hands and noticed that she is really holding the Shiny Rod in her right hand.

"Huh?" Akko blinked in confusion even more.

Before Akko can wonder about it any further, she and Lotte had reached the end of the Leyline tunnel, depositing the two of them back in the real world.

This is it...

She's finally here. The school that Chariot Du Nord studied at...

Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy.

* * *

Well, thank you, Lotte, for giving Akko a free ride to Luna Nova.

You definitely noticed several differences this chapter has from the anime. For one: the turbulence in the Leyline. In the anime, the turbulence is caused by the salt in Akko's jar of pickled plums. But here the turbulence is just a natural occurrence that occurs randomly, and has nothing to do with Akko. It also served as how Akko proved herself worthy of the Shiny Rod in this fic's continuity.

Lotte's full name being _Liselotte_ Jansson isn't entirely my idea. Some people out there believed that "Lotte" might just be a shortening for names such as Charlotte, Annelotte, or well, Liselotte. I initially didn't subscribe to this theory, but "Liselotte" sounded so nice that I decided to appropriate it for this fic.

You're probably also wondering: "Where is Sucy?" The answer is: she will be introduced in the next chapter. Why? Because I got tired of seeing LWA fics, both rewrites and AUs, where Sucy is the first person Akko meets upon arriving at the UK (or whatever other country the AU might've placed Luna Nova in). In any case, this fic is meant to be a fan remake, so of course there are going to be noticeable differences.

"And remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	4. Welcome to Luna Nova

This is it...

She's finally here...

The school that Shiny Chariot studied in...

The most prestigious magic school in the world...

The one and only: Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy.

"Unbelievable! I've finally arrived at Luna Nova! Yay!" Akko is very excited about having achieved (step one of) her lifelong dream.

So much so that the Japanese girl had momentarily forgotten that she is Lotte's passenger, and her excited reaction caused a very violent shake to the glasses girl's flying broom.

"Akko, calm down, please!" Lotte said worriedly as she held on to her broom.

"Oh, sorry!" Akko apologized as she calmed down.

Lotte sighed. She hoped she hasn't made the wrong choice by helping this hyperactive Japanese girl.

...

The two touched down on the designated landing zone of the campus moments later. A professor is standing nearby, guiding the student witches toward the main building of Luna Nova.

"I'm finally here..." Akko is so happy she shed tears of joy. "I've waited my entire life for this..."

"Akko..." Lotte snapped her back to reality. "Are you sure you wanted to be like Shiny Chariot?" She then asked.

Akko's reaction to that question made Lotte regret asking it. "Of course I wanted to! Chariot is the most awesome performer in the world, and I want to follow in her footsteps and become an awesome performer myself!" As Akko answered the question excitedly, she moved close enough to Lotte as to invade her personal space.

Lotte gently pushed Akko back. "Uh...you do know that Chariot didn't just perform, right?" She reminded the Japanese girl.

Akko threw her hands up in the air. "I know! Chariot starred in several movies and TV shows too, and I watched all of them even before I could understand English! But she's still better known as a performer!" She then lowered her hands, and remembered about the Shiny Rod, which she showed to Lotte. "And then there's this! Do you have any idea what it is?"

Lotte looked at the Shiny Rod. She blinked her eyes in disbelief. "I-is this...re-"

"_THE_ Shiny Rod!" Akko interrupted, causing Lotte to reel back. "Chariot's magic staff! And it's the only one of its kind!"

Lotte pinched her nose. She sure picked one heck of a hyperactive girl to give a ride to. "W-well, uh... Maybe we can talk about this later? The matriculation ceremony's about to st-"

"Hey, there, Little Lotte, I see you've made a new nerd friend~" A different voice suddenly spoke, causing Lotte to stop mid-sentence and avert her gaze.

Akko wondered who it could be that caused Lotte to avert her gaze.

"W-what do you want, _Chloe Dubois_...?" Lotte asked whoever that voice belonged to. Her own voice sounded like she was angry.

Akko realized that the owner of the voice is standing her. She turned around to see who it was.

Standing over there is a girl with blonde hair done up in a pompadour that all but said "school celebrity". Following right behind her are two more girls: one has auburn hair tied in a ponytail with a yellow ribbon, the other has a simple long dark hair.

"Nothing. Just wanted to talk to you for the first time in months~" Said smugly the blonde haired girl, with a French accent not unlike Chariot's.

"Who's this friend of yours~?" Teased the auburn-haired girl. Her British accent made the teasing sound so much worse.

"A Shiny Chariot fangirl? How lame~!" The dark-haired girl teased as well.

Lotte just stood there, face red with anger as the three bullies gave bitchy laughs.

"Hey, don't be so mean to her!" Akko stood out in defense for Lotte.

"Or what?" The blonde girl dared. "You're going to blast us with a water spell?"

"Ooh, scary, scary~" The other two girls mocked.

"You bet I would!" Akko rebuked, as she raised and pointed the Shiny Rod at the bullies. "Shiny Rod, go! Blast them with water!"

Nothing happened. The Shiny Rod remained inert.

"Shiny Rod! I command you to blast these bullies with a jet of water!" Akko repeated. Her attempt remained in vain.

The bullies laughed at Akko's failure to cast a spell. Loudly enough that the other passing-by student witches stopped in their tracks to see what is going on.

"I'm guessing you have never casted a spell before..." The blonde girl mocked.

"Here's how it's really done, _Muggle_..." The auburn-haired girl said as she raised her magic wand.

She waved the wand for a bit before redirecting its tip at Akko, where it then shot out a torrent of water that soaked her from head to toe.

Akko spat out some water. These three actually are much worse than Avery and her friends from back at the Leyline Terminal...

"Ta-da~!" The auburn-haired girl added as she stored her magic wand away. "That is how a real witch casts a spell~"

"And how much of your allowance did you spend to buy that cheap knockoff, anyway~?" The dark-haired girl followed up with a taunt.

All those insults made Akko really angry. She wanted to punch these bullies so much...

"Anyway, I don't want to waste any more time with the two of you..." The blonde-haired girl said before turning around and walking away. "Come on, Hannah, Barbara, let's get to the matriculation ceremony before it starts..."

"See you later, Little Lotte~ And you as well, Muggle~" The auburn-haired girl and dark-haired girl teased as they too turn around to follow their friend. "Blast us? Hah! She can't even pronounce some of the words properly! I mean, '_brast_'? I bet she's still learning to speak English!"

Akko and Lotte stood where they are as they watched the bullies depart.

"Just who do they think they are?!" Akko ranted about the bullies.

"It's alright, Akko..." Lotte moved in to tell her. "Chloe Dubois, Hannah, and Barbara has been like that to me since the last semester..."

"And you just let them say whatever they want about you?!" Akko exclaimed angrily. "I'm going to become a witch, and wipe their smug laughs off their face!"

"Maybe later..." Lotte added. "We going to be late for the matriculation ceremony..."

"Oh right!" Akko said. "Let's get going!"

...

Okay, so it was to be expected that whenever you go to a school, there is going to be a matriculation ceremony that takes place before the semester begins for real. Usually, the headmaster or headmistress will be giving a speech to every student, telling them that they have a lot to face ahead of them and that they should give their best.

Akko expected that, after having experienced it in her very first days in both pre-school and high-school back in Japan, and so is fully prepared to sit through whatever "boring" speech Luna Nova's headmistress has prepared. What she _didn't_ expect is that this particular headmistress - an old witch who introduced herself as Headmistress Holbrooke - would have a speech that lasts more than an hour. Seriously, just how are Luna Nova's faculty and staff able to sit through all of it whenever a new semester begins? And just how is the headmistress able to speak for so long?

And apparently, Luna Nova has a policy of dividing students into Covens - groups of three each denoted by a color. Most of the returning students are already in complete Covens (including Avery, Mary and Blair, whom Akko notes are the Purple Coven), but some Covens have only one or two members in them, either because the missing members have already graduated, dropped out at some point in the previous semester, or was late for the matriculation ceremony and got expelled on the spot (_Wow, Lotte isn't kidding, they sure are strict..._ Akko thought). The new students, on the other hand, are divided from the returning students and put in a bleacher so they can be assigned to a Coven by the end of the matriculation ceremony. Since Akko is a new student, she got placed in the bleacher alongside the other new students.

Akko noticed that the Red Coven, which Lotte is in, consisted of just Lotte herself and no one else. Wonder what happened to the glasses girl's old Coven mates? As for Chloe, Hannah, and Barbara, turns out they're not even in the same Coven: Hannah and Barbara are in the Blue Coven (which is missing a third member), and Chloe is in the complete Beige Coven together with her actual Coven mates.

Akko then looked around at her fellow new students who are seated around her in the bleacher. Seated right next to her is a girl with ghostly pale skin and puce hair, with a bang covering her left eye. She doesn't look like she's even listening to a single word of the headmistress's speech. Seated two rows behind Akko is a gorgeous, regal-looking girl whose hair reminded the Japanese girl of a cabbage or lettuce...

"And with that said, I believe it is time we let the new students know who their roommates will be for the next three years." Headmistress Holbrooke said as she finished her speech.

Roommates. That means the new students are going to be assigned to their Covens right about now. Akko wondered which Coven she might be assigned to. She know she wouldn't have to have Avery or Chloe as her Coven mates, since their Covens are already full. Hannah and Barbara, on the other hand... Akko shuddered at the thought of having those two jerks as her Coven mates for the next three years...

"Please don't be Blue. Please don't be Blue. Please don't be Blue..." Akko prayed to not be assigned to the Blue Coven, to the point that the other new students are looking at her like she's got a potato brain or something. She'd rather commit Sepukku than to have two big bullies as her Coven mates...

A different, stern-looking professor stepped forward on the stage before unfurling a scroll in her hands. "Attention, new students. You will now be assigned to your Covens, which you will be with for the next three years. Your name will be called after the Coven you are assigned to." She announced. "If there are no questions you want to ask, then we will begin now."

Akko became very nervous. She wished, for the love of god, that she would not be assigned to the Blue Coven.

"Mint Coven: Abigail King and Rita Vrataski!" The stern professor called out the first two new students' names.

A girl with short dark hair and another with light brown hair in braided twintails shuffled out of the bleacher and went to join a girl with long black hair.

"Puce Coven: James Daisy Lorea!" The third new student's name is called out. The stern professor seemed to roll her eyes a bit upon calling the name, as though it's a weird one for her.

"Call me Daisy, please..." A girl with two bows in her hair protested as she made her way to her Coven.

There isn't that many new students. But still, it's going to take a while for the professor to finish assigning everyone to their covens. With each name that got called out, Akko become more worried about sharing a Coven with Hannah and Barbara.

The stern professor continued assigning the new students to their Covens. Verde Shidariza, a girl with green hair in twin drills, got assigned to White Coven. Jeanne Archer, a redhead who was just reading a book about someone named Joan of Arc, went to Navy Coven. Chang Lin-Lin, a (definitely Chinese) girl with two hair buns, and Balsa McVinegar, a girl with messy dark brown hair, got assigned to Brown Coven. Verochka Alianov, a tall girl with a prominent forehead, glared at Akko for some reason as she made her way to Cyan Coven's seats. Fujiwara Shiki, the only other Japanese girl in the bleacher besides Akko, got sent to Cream Coven. Teresa Finneran, a 30-something woman (_Just how long was she delayed with her enrollment?_), whose name got called particularly loudly by the stern professor, reluctantly went to join Magenta Coven while muttering under her breath "Bloody hell, mother!". Molly McIntyre, a dark-skinned girl with light blue hair covering her right eye, got assigned to Gray Coven together with Elizabeth Cullen, a bright-haired girl whose pale skin seemed to sparkle (curiously, they both acted as though this isn't their first time)...

The assigning went on for quite a bit until only two Covens are left incomplete: Lotte's Red, and Hannah and Barbara's Blue. At this point, only three new students are left in the bleachers: Akko herself, the puce-haired pale girl next to her, and the regal girl with the lettuce hair.

This moment is really intense for Akko. What if she got assigned to Blue Coven? Is she going to endure being bullied by her own Coven mates for the next three years? Or will Hannah and Barbara corrupt her into becoming a bully herself, and pick on Lotte for the next three years? And will she still be worthy of the Shiny Rod if she becomes a bully herself?

Akko became so nervous that she is willing to sacrifice half of her Shiny Chariot merchandise if it let her go to anywhere but Blue Coven.

"Blue Coven..." The stern professor called out, and at that moment, time seemed to be going ten times slower than usual for Akko.

"Please don't be Blue. Please don't be Blue. Please don't be Blue..." Akko went back to uttering her mantra repeatedly.

However, something unusual happened. Rather than calling out the next student's name immediately, the stern professor paused and brought the scroll closer to her eyes, as though she was very surprised by the next student's name. The students and other professors, as well as Headmistress Holbrooke herself, started talking to each other about what might be going on.

"Really? Her?" The professor muttered, still in disbelief about whatever, or whoever the next student might be.

Akko blinked. She's a nobody, so it can't be her that caught the stern professor by surprise. But could it be the puce-haired girl, or the lettuce haired girl?

"Ahem..." The stern professor cleared her throat as she went back on track. "Blue Coven: Diana Cavendish!"

The entire hall went dead silent as soon as that name is dropped...

* * *

Wow, Hannah and Barbara sure are much worse here than they were in all the canon works. They were engaging in their lowly bullying and bitchy attitudes _before_ they even met Diana (they hang out with Chloe instead, despite her being from another Coven). And Chloe must've been one heck of a bully if _Lotte_ of all people is pissed enough about her to be on a full name basis at all times.

See those names mentioned up there? Yes, those are the Background students all given last names, or in Daisy's case, a last name and a _new_, male-sounding first name, with "Daisy" becoming her middle name instead (poor girl). And Elizabeth Cullen... Hm, I wonder what that might be referencing...and what about her and Molly McIntyre treating this as though it was anything but their first time? Also, Teresa _Finneran_? Could she be related to Luna Nova's most hated professor?

And now, Akko's quest to follow in Shiny Chariot's footsteps begins...

"And remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	5. Introduction

**Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy**

"Blue Coven: Diana Cavendish!"

The entire hall went dead silent as soon as that name is dropped.

Akko noticed that even Hannah and Barbara's smug faces got replaced by that of jaw-dropping surprise when the three of them heard "Diana Cavendish" being called out. Chloe on the other hand looked like she was worried about something upon hearing that name. Just who is this Diana, and why did her name garner such a response from everyone?

"Did she just say Cavendish?"

"Cavendish? _That_ Cavendish?"

"Is she the daughter of Bernadette Cavendish?"

As Akko wondered what kind of a person Diana Cavendish is for everyone to start talking about her like she's some kind of celebrity, she saw the lettuce-haired girl leaving the "new students" bleacher as she made her way to the empty chair between Hannah and Barbara. Every step she took looked to be precisely measured and calculated.

"My name is Diana Cavendish," The lettuce-haired girl introduced herself to the Blue Coven girls. "it will be an honor to work with the two of you."

Hannah and Barbara did not respond. They were rendered speechless about having Diana as their Coven mate.

Akko narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized Diana's features. She just can't see why this girl with a lettuce-like hair could be a "Ojou-sama" type that got everyone gossiping about her.

In her moments of deep thought, Akko had almost missed her name being called out.

"Red Coven: Kagari Atsuko and Sucy Manbavaran!"

Akko snapped out of her thoughts just in time. She and the puce-haired girl next to her, being the only two left in the "new students" bleacher, got up from their seats and joined Lotte at the Red Coven's seats. Akko noticed that the puce-haired girl, Sucy, looked like she doesn't really want to be here in Luna Nova at all, and didn't even spare Akko a glance when Akko tried to say hello to her.

The stern professor who assigned the new students to their Covens then rolled up the scroll, having called out every name on the list. "That concludes the assigning of the Covens." She announced. "Does anyone have any questions they would like to ask?"

The hall fell silent again.

"Very well..." The stern professor acknowledged the (lack of) response from the students before stepping back.

"With that done," Headmistress Holbrooke resumed. "let us begin the Matriculation Ceremony."

After that, Akko spent much of the Matriculation Ceremony thinking about how she is going to learn magic in Luna Nova and become a witch for real. And she is going to show Avery, Chloe, Hannah, and Barbara that she can do it and prove them wrong!

If anyone were to pay attention to their surroundings, they would have noticed a white crow with a four-pointed star on its chest perched on one of the windows of the hall. The white crow spent the entire duration of the Matriculation Ceremony observing Akko - and in particular the Shiny Rod which she placed in her backpack - and then flew away...

...

After the Matriculation Ceremony has ended, all the students are then guided to their Covens' dormitories by the same stern professor from before.

"Each and every Coven will be given their own dormitories, assigned in accordance to their colors." The stern professor explained to the new students (and repeated god-knows-how-many-times-already for the returning students). "You are to return to your dormitories before curfew begins at seven o'clock in the evening. All magic experiments are strictly forbidden within the dormitories, and any violations will be dealt with accordingly..." She then went on with the rules, which is quite a lengthy list (so lengthy that Chloe looked like she got impatient and stopped paying attention). "And finally, the fire alarm buttons, one of which is _right here_," She pointed at a button that is labelled 'FIRE ALARM', "are for emergencies _only_."

Akko nodded. She remember that time when she set off the fire alarm out of curiosity in middle school. Nothing disastrous happened and she was let off with a warning, but her classmates at the time refused to let her live it down ever since. The Japanese girl reminded herself to remember what the stern professor said about only using the fire alarm buttons for actual emergencies.

"Any questions?" The professor ended with a question.

Surprisingly, nearly everyone raised their hands this time. And being teenagers, their questions are all very typical...

"Do we have Wi-Fi in the dorms?"

"Can I watch movies on my laptop?"

"Can I stream anything live for my Instagram?"

The stern professor gritted her teeth. Apparently, this isn't the first time she has to deal with this problem.

"As long as you adhere by the rules and don't do anything inappropriate," The professor answered, then glared at Teresa Finneran (who responded with an annoyed grunt as everyone else glanced at her). "you are free to use your _gadgets_ as you please." She doesn't sound particularly pleased about giving the answer.

The new students cheered at what they just heard. Well, some did. A few, like that Diana Cavendish, doesn't seem to care about being allowed to use any gadgets.

"That being said," The stern professor added, getting everyone to quiet down. "I hope you focus on your studies instead of wasting your time on useless things."

That prompted an eyeroll from some of the new students.

...

Once the professor has finished listing the dormitory guidelines, all the students pooled into their respective dormitories.

"*Sigh* What a terrible day..." Akko mumbled as she planted herself on a bed in the Red Coven's dorm. "The Leyline Terminal, the turbulence in the Leyline, Avery and her friends, Chloe, Hannah, Barbara... Nothing could possibly be worse than all of these..."

"At least you got what you wanted: coming to the school that Shiny Chariot went to..." Lotte said to Akko. "Is there anything else you wanted?"

Akko almost immediately shot up from the bed. "Of course there is! I also wanted to make new friends!" She then approached Lotte and put her hands on the glasses girl's shoulders. "You're a second year student, right? What happened to your old Coven mates?"

Lotte spent some time retrieving the answers for that question from her memory. "Well, uh... one had to drop out due to complicated family issues, and the other got expelled for blowing up a classroom..."

Akko released her hands from Lotte. "Oh, that is probably impolite of me to make you bring up unpleasant memories." She then turned her attention to Sucy, who has just started unpacking her luggage. "Your name is Sushi, right?"

"_Sucy_." The puce-haired girl, with venom in her tone, corrected without looking away from her luggage.

"Sucy, yes." Akko tried pronouncing the name again, this time closer to the intended pronunciation. "You have any friends back from your home country?"

Sucy ignored the question in favor of focusing on unpacking her luggage, which is full of what looked like lab equipment.

The puce-haired girl's lack of response did not dissuade Akko. "So how about we become friends, and get to know each other better?" The Japanese girl said. "Let me start! My name is Akko, and I came to Luna Nova so I can become just like Shiny Chariot when I graduate!" She placed a hand on Sucy's shoulder. "What about you? Why did you come to Luna Nova?"

Sucy continued to ignore Akko, as she moved some beakers and test tubes from her luggage onto the table.

"You aren't the talkative type, huh?" Akko said. "Never mind! Do you have anything you like as much as I like Chariot? Or do you like Chariot too? Did you know that she was an actress as well as a performer? If so, which of the movies she appeared in do you think is the be-"

Akko's rapid-fire assault of questions finally got Sucy's attention. Sucy turned toward Akko with a one-eyed glare that is made intimidating by the fact that she has her other eye covered by her hair, which combined with her corpse-pale skin made her look like she just came out of a horror movie.

"Al...right. Maybe later..." Akko, intimidated by Sucy's glare, decided to back off.

As Sucy went back to unpacking her luggage, Akko diverted her attention to Lotte. "How about you, Lotte?" She asked. "Why did you come to Luna Nova? What is your favorite thing? Do you have-" Akko then started another rapid-fire assault of questions on Lotte as she got too close to the glasses girl for comfort.

"S-slow down. I-I can only answer one question at a time..." Lotte said as she raised her hand to make space between Akko and herself. She then cleared her throat before continuing. "W-well, firstly, I came to Luna Nova so I can apply for a certificate to run a shop after I graduate..."

Akko tilted her head in confusion, as though it was her first time hearing something like that. "You need to do that to run a shop? I thought..."

"Just like how Shiny Chariot needed to graduate and get a certificate before she can start performing..." Lotte explained. "She didn't make her way to fame with just the Shiny Rod, after all."

Hearing the name of the one-of-a-kind magic staff got Akko excited again. "Speaking of Shiny Rod!" She went and grabbed the Shiny Rod from her backpack. "I still can't believe I have gotten my hands on _the_ Shiny Rod! Why it wasn't with Shiny Chariot, I don't know. But maybe I can meet her again if I hold on to it for long enough!" She deduced excitedly.

"That sounds... kind of far fetched..." Lotte said. "Just like season 12, episode 19 of the TV series..."

"What TV series?" Akko asked as she heard Lotte's mumble. "Does it have Chariot in it?"

"W-well, not quite..." Lotte added. "It ended 10 years ago. That's before Chariot started acting for the first time..."

"Anyway!" Akko redirected the focus back onto the Shiny Rod. "I should wait for Shiny Chariot to come back! And when she does, I'm going to return the Shiny Rod to her!"

There was the sound of someone groaning at Akko's statement. It didn't sound like it came from Lotte or Sucy.

"D-did you hear that?" Lotte pointed out.

"Hear what?" Akko asked, confused about what Lotte was talking about.

As Akko continued with her excited blabbering, neither she nor her Coven mates noticed the same white crow that observed her back at the Matriculation Ceremony, again observing her for a while before flying off.

The white crow flew away from the dormitories and headed for the designated broom landing zone, where someone stood by, waiting for it.

"Thank you, Alcor, for confirming that Shiny Rod is here..." The person said to the white crow. "Would you mind keeping an eye on her while I go meet the headmistress?"

The white crow cawed, before flying off again.

...

**Meanwhile, in the headmistress's office...**

"As you all know..." Headmistress Holbrooke said as she addressed the faculty of Luna Nova. "The 1357th semester will be starting in three days. As usual, it is our duties to ensure that all the students get the educations and support they needed on their path to becoming full-fledged witches, where they will then contribute their skills and knowledge to the world..."

"Or pass on what they learned from their teachers by becoming teachers themselves." Added the stern professor from before.

"Ya said that every year since the first..." Said the professor with the aviator goggles, who spoke with an American accent. "Ya ever thought of anything else to say, Anne?"

"It's none of your business, _Nelson_..." The stern professor glared at her fellow professor through the corner of her eyes.

"Now, now, Nelson is merely giving you a suggestion, Finneran..." Holbrooke ended the argument before it can begin. "Now, as I was going to say, we will be expecting a guest..." With that said, the headmistress tapped her cane against the wooden floor two times. "You may come in now, Miss Callistis..."

All of the faculty turned their attention toward the entrance of the office, as someone opened the door from outside.

Stepping into the headmistress's office is a woman with blue hair and a pair of spectacles, already wearing the uniform of a Luna Nova professor. From her appearance, she looked to be in her mid-thirties.

"Bonjour." The woman greeted everyone with a noticeable French accent.

"Ladies, allow me to introduce to you: Professor Ursula Callistis." Holbrooke introduced the new person to everyone. "She just got transferred from Harriet Jean Academy, and will be joining you all as a professor here at Luna Nova..."

The new professor, Ursula, shrugged. "Actually, I resigned from Harriet Jean because it was rather...unpleasant...to its students." She corrected the headmistress.

The faculty members all made the look that says they knew Ursula is sparing them the details. But as they knew the details are unpleasant, they decided to not press the new professor for it.

"Now, I'm sure you ladies will get along just fine..." Holbrooke said.

The headmistress then turned around to look at the nine display stands behind her. Each of those stands held a wooden carving of a hat or headdress that all appeared to be from entirely different cultures, except for the ninth stand which held an ornate sword instead.

"Just like the Nine Olde Witches back during the Golden Age of Magic..."

* * *

Watch out, Chloe, for you might lose your school celebrity status to Diana...

And on another note, YAY, Diana's here! Which means its time to ship her with Akko!

..._Not_.

I'll make this straight and simple. I actually don't like Diakko. That is because I saw the pairing as being yet another "Rivals Equal Romance" pairing that frankly speaking, has been done to the point of being an overused cliche. No offense to Diakko fans, but that's why there won't, and will never be, any Diakko in this story. And for you Suakko shippers who are rejoicing, no, I won't be shipping them either, though I'm completely fine with that pairing.

On another note, we're finally introduced to "best mom" Ursula Callistis. Well, we all know she's not who she claims to be... But what about her sending Alcor to spy on Akko and the Shiny Rod? That's a bit unlike what she'd ever do in canon, isn't it? Read on to find out~

One last thing to clarify: when Lotte mentioned "Season 12, episode 19 of the TV series", she is indeed referring to _Night Fall_. But the TV series is just a spin-off of the novels. You'll know more later into this fic...

"Harriet Jean Academy", eh? I wonder what that might be referencing? A certain anime series with living clothes, perhaps?

"And remember: a believing heart is your magic."

_Afterwords end here._


	6. First Day

_"Shiny Arc!"_

_Shiny Chariot declared loudly before letting go of the bowstring of Shiny Rod's longbow form, sending a bolt of magical energy flying toward its target: an illusion in the form of a dragon._

_The dragon widened its gaping maw, seemingly for the sole purpose of swallowing the magical bolt. After doing so and closing its maw, the dragon began to bloat like a balloon - even making a "this is going to suck" expression in the meantime - before exploding into a brilliant display of fireworks._

_The entire audience watched the brilliant display in awe._

_After that, Chariot twirled the Shiny Rod with one hand, transforming it back into its default wand form._

_"Yet another successful performance~" The red-headed performer announced to the audience. "Now, anyone mind telling me what today's magic word is~?"_

_The audience answered with a cacophony of "Shiny Arc!"_

_"That is correct!" Chariot told the audience. She then pointed the Shiny Rod at the audience, or rather, at a specific member of the audience. "Before I leave, I would like to say something to my greatest fan..."_

_The 'greatest fan' in question squealed, jumping up and down on her seat._

_"Remember these mystical words..." Chariot then said. "Noctu Orfei Aude Fraetor..."_

_..._

**Red Coven's dorm**

"Noctu Orfei Aude Fraetor..."

Akko mumbled the words in her sleep right before shooting up from her bed as she jolted herself awake.

"That was a dream, was it...?" She groggily mumbled in Japanese as she rubbed her eyes.

It has been two days since Akko arrived at Luna Nova. Despite that, she still has trouble getting used to sharing a dormitory with Lotte and Sucy instead of having her own bedroom to herself back home in Osaka, Japan.

Akko scanned the dormitory, finding that just like yesterday, Sucy has already gotten up and started doing some kind of potions experiment (Lotte had reminded Sucy yesterday that it's against the rules, but she ignored it) with her lab equipment, while Lotte is still asleep in her bunk bed.

The Japanese girl then recalled what she had learned about her Coven mates in the last two days. Lotte's family runs a magic shop in Finland, and she is going to inherit it when she comes to age (that explains the certificate thing she mentioned two days ago). Sucy is from the Philippines (at least going by the presence of a Filipino passport stashed with her luggage), and she claims that she is only half-human (what her other half is, Sucy herself has no idea, though that explains her corpse-pale skin and total lack of body warmth). Sucy isn't quite the kind of person that's into socializing, though, and she only told Akko about herself just to get Akko to stop asking her about it.

_Is that all? I think I'm missing_ something... Akko thought as she tried to recall what else she could have missed.

Akko looked around the dorm as she searched for her answer. There's the limited edition Shiny Chariot poster hung on the wall by her bed, the plush of Chariot's white crow familiar she hugs in her sleep, action figures of movie characters portrayed by Chariot arranged on the shelf across from the bunk bed, the binder holding the Shiny Chariot trading cards placed neatly in a corner of the table, and right in front of the binder...

The Shiny Rod, the one-of-a-kind magic staff once owned by Shiny Chariot herself. Akko realized that's what she is missing.

Akko climbed out of her bed, and grabbed the Shiny Rod, hugging it and bringing it to her face like it was a priceless treasure (which it technically is, being one-of-a-kind). "I still can't believe this is _the_ Shiny Rod! Shiny Chariot's magic staff, and the only one of its kind in existence!" She told no one in particular. "I've always wanted to own one of those plastic replicas they sold in the toy shops, but to own the real Shiny Rod... It's unbelievable!" She said excitedly.

"You said that like the 200th time in the past two days already..." Sucy, without looking away from her experiment, broke her usual silence to remind Akko. "Besides, why are you so obsessed with Shiny Chariot, anyway?"

Akko responded to Sucy by getting really close to her, invading her personal space in the process. "Same reason Filipinos like you are obsessed with _Voltes V_! At least, that's what I heard from the internet..."

Sucy gets the message. "Well, I can't say that _Voltes V_ is a bad series..." She said with a shrug, glancing away from Akko in the process.

The commotion has woken up Lotte, who got up from her bunk bed and yawned. "Good morning..." She greeted before putting her glasses on. "Did I miss something?"

"The usual..." Sucy answered.

Lotte blinked. "Still Shiny Chariot?" She asked as she climbed down from her bunk bed.

Akko made her way to the middle of the Red Coven's dorm. "Hey, girls, want to see something cool?" She announced to Lotte and Sucy.

"Haven't you done that in the last two days, to no avail?" Lotte reminded Akko.

"I guess that potato brain of yours never learned..." Sucy mused, followed with a snicker.

Akko frowned upon hearing what her Coven mates said. Though her frown went away as quickly as it came. "I swear, it will be different this time! And it will blow your head!" She claimed loudly.

"You mean 'blow your _mind_', don't you...?" Lotte awkwardly corrected.

"Whatever! Now watch!" Akko announced as she imitated Shiny Chariot's way of holding the Shiny Rod. "Alright, then... **_Nocte Orfey Aude Fraetor_**!"

Nothing happened...

"Huh?" Akko wondered what went wrong, before making a second attempt.

Still, nothing happened...

"Why isn't anything happening?!" Akko voiced her confusion out loud. "I'm sure this is the spell that activated Shiny Arc!"

"You were right, you did manage to blow my mind..." Sucy sarcastically commented.

"Maybe it was because the spell was mangled by your accent?" Lotte suggested. "I had the same problem in my first year..."

Akko lowered the Shiny Rod, and sighed. "Now that you mentioned it... Did Chariot have trouble with her French accent when she was still studying?"

"Maybe?" Lotte answered, herself wondering about the question. "Speaking of studying, we should get ready for class, for today is the first day classes begin..."

Akko went right back to being excited when she heard that. "That's right! Classes starts today! I can't wait to start learning magic for real!"

"Well, to begin with, we should get changed into our uniforms..." Sucy said as she stood up from the desk, having decided to temporarily halt her experiment.

...

When she enrolled into Luna Nova, Akko had believed that magic schools were supposed to teach their students about the exciting parts of magic and what makes them so exciting. Though admittedly, she got that idea from anime and manga...

But this... This is _not_ what she expected...

"Can anyone tell me what is being said by these Lunar Alphabets?" Asked the same stern professor from the Matriculation Ceremony - who identified herself as Professor Anne Finneran at the start of the class (_Finneran? Is she the mother of Teresa Finneran?_ Akko wondered at the time) - as she pointed at a series of mystic-looking alphabets that are written on the blackboard.

Akko has known that studying magic isn't going to be easy. But this? This so-called Magic Linguistics isn't what she expected at all! In fact, this is the first time the Japanese girl has even heard of these "Lunar Alphabets", and she finds herself utterly unable to comprehend just one alphabet, let alone an entire sentence of the language. And since this class is pretty much the first time where she's heard of the Lunar Alphabets, Akko wondered if Shiny Chariot, or any Luna Nova alumni in general, have ever found a use for it in their careers (Chariot certainly hasn't).

To Akko's side, Lotte appeared to be focused on the subject, taking notes as Professor Finneran lectured about the subject. But it is pretty obvious that Lotte is trying very hard just to keep up. Sucy, on the other hand, is merely pretending to be paying attention, if her extremely bored expression is anything to go by.

Akko looked around the classroom to see if anyone else are trying to get an answer for Professor Finenran's question.

All of the students are scratching their heads as they are still trying to figure out the question. All except one: Chloe, who has her left hand raised.

"Yes, Miss Dubois, care to answer?" Professor Finneran called for Chloe, who stood up from her seat with a smug expression on her face.

"'The primary purpose of magic is virtue'" Chloe answered the question.

Professor Finneran glanced at the sentence she pointed at earlier, then back at Chloe. "That isn't exactly what it says, but the intended meaning is close enough. Very well, Miss Dubois."

Smiling smugly, Chloe sat down afterwards.

"Does anyone here believe they can do better than Miss Dubois?" Professor Finneran asked all of the other students. Her tone of speech hinted at her doubting her own question.

Immediately after that question is asked, another student raised her hand, much to Professor Finneran's unexpressed surprise. That student is one Diana Cavendish.

"Yes, Miss Cavendish? Care to try?" The professor called to Diana.

Diana stood up, and unlike Chloe, isn't smug about the opportunity at all. In fact, the lettuce-haired girl kept her stoic expression. "Professor, I believe these Alphabets actually said 'The foremost purpose of magic is knowledge', a quote from the magic philosopher, T.S. Daniels."

Professor Finneran glanced at the written sentence on the blackboard again, and then back at Diana with astonishment. "That is exactly what it says, right down to each individual letter. Very well done, Miss Cavendish. I am impressed." She then praised Diana.

With that, Diana sat down afterwards, again keeping her stoic expression. To her immediate left and right, Hannah and Barbara lightly clapped their hands in amazement. The rest of the class stared at Diana with just as much amazement, simply due to the fact that Luna Nova's strictest professor had just genuinely praised her. Even Akko can't help but be amazed by how Diana just casually one-upped Chloe in class.

Of course, the only person in the classroom who isn't impressed at all is Chloe herself. The French bully glared at Diana with as much discontent as a human face can possibly express.

...

After Magic Linguistics class is Potions Brewing and Handling class.

Akko hoped that, as a class about magic potions, it'd be less boring and more enjoyable than Magic Linguistics (even if Shiny Chariot never dabbled in it in her career).

She was right. There is, however, one _slight_ issue about it...

The fumes that all but replaced the air in the laboratory-turned-classroom. They say that science labs can be quite unpleasant to be in due to all the chemical fumes released by the experiments involved. But no matter how the movies portrayed them to be, they pale in comparison to the potion fumes this old crone of a professor called breath.

"One pinch of spider eyes, one lizard tail, and a bat's liver..." Said Professor Lukic as she stirred the cauldron of boiling concoction in front of the whole class, while cackling like a classical wicked witch. "All the ingredients necessary for wonderful aromas such as this..."

Despite what Professor Lukic said, practically everyone in the classroom disagreed with her without actually saying it. Some students including Akko had to cover their noses and mouths with the collar of their uniforms, while some, like Chloe's black-haired Coven mate, had to excuse themselves to the washroom in order to throw up. The only two students who don't have any issues with the fumes are Sucy (who seemed to _enjoy_ breathing it) and Diana (who simply conjured a bubble around herself, Hannah and Barbara).

After sitting through the whole class gagging on the potion fumes, Akko has decided that she must pass this subject so she doesn't fail and have to sit through it again in the next semester. Now she knows why Shiny Chariot never dabbled in potions...

...

After Potions Brewing and Handling class is Magic Numerology...

Which turns out to just be mathematics with magic, much to Akko's chagrin, as math is probably the most boring, and her least favorite subject ever.

Akko found this ridiculous. She knew that Muggle life and science needed mathematics to run smoothly, but had never thought that magic needed mathematics at all. Well, sure, Shiny Chariot probably had to do some calculations in her mind during some of her more complex performances. But this...? Akko resisted the urge to doze off, but with how boring the class is, just staying awake is a chore for the Japanese girl.

Even Lotte and Sucy are barely holding it together. Lotte can't help but yawn loudly, getting herself a glare from the lecturer of the class, Professor Samantha Badcock. Sucy, on the other hand, isn't even pretending to pay attention or take down notes as she flipped through her handbook of exotic magical ingredients under the desk.

The only thing that prevented the class from being totally bland is when Diana corrected Professor Badcock on an equation the professor had one of the details incorrectly remembered, which the professor thanks her for. Unsurprisingly, Chloe glared at Diana when Professor Badcock praised her for the correction.

...

After Magic Numerology, there weren't any classes left for Red Coven to attend to for the rest of the day, so they went to the cafeteria to have lunch.

"I just don't get it!" Akko complained to Lotte and Sucy as she had lunch with them. "I thought magic was supposed to be all flashy and magnificent! But all I got was a bunch of boring lessons instead!"

"Well, they say every profession began with boring and tedious hard work..." Lotte said. "Chariot sat through the same lessons, after all..."

"Didn't you have to sit through lessons as 'boring' as these when you're in primary and secondary schools?" Sucy pointed out in her usual deadpan manner. "Or is it middle and high schools...?"

Akko suddenly slammed both her hands on the table, rattling all the cutlery on it and causing Lotte to reel back a bit in surprise. "Doesn't change the fact that they are still boring and in the case of Potions class, very unpleasant!" She loudly complained.

All the other students in the cafeteria, along with the cafeteria staff, stopped what they were doing and looked at the Red Coven.

"Akko, calm down!" Lotte said worriedly all of a sudden. "You're making a scene!"

Akko did indeed calm down, though she became confused by the glasses girl's sudden change of behavior. "Lotte, why are you so worried abou-"

"Looks like you have a loud problem there, Little Lotte~" A familiar, despicable voice suddenly spoke from behind Akko, causing Lotte to shrink back into her seat and look away.

Well, that explains Lotte's sudden change of behavior...

"What do you want, Chloe?" Akko turned around to face the French bully, who smugly stood there.

"Oh, nothing~" Chloe answered smugly, which is made even more grating by her French accent. "Just seeing how Little Lotte's Shiny Chariot fangirl friend is doing~"

"You have a problem with Chariot?" Akko fired back as she got increasingly angry.

"Of course I do! Chariot Du Nord is an utter disgrace to witches, especially French witches like me!" Chloe casually and loudly said.

Akko had almost reached her boiling point upon hearing that. "You're French too, correct? So why are you so casually badmouthing your _senpai_... I mean, senior?"

"Senior? Oh please!" Chloe rolled her eyes in response to that. "Why would _I_, the star of Luna Nova, consider _her_ to be my senior?" She added in a taunting way. "It was a good thing she disappeared to who-knows-where, so I don't have to live under her failure of a shadow! Speaking of Chariot, where did you put the so-called Shiny Rod~?"

Akko finally can't take that anymore. She grabbed hold of her lunch, and threw all of it - food, plate, and tray - at Chloe.

The French bully took all of it to her face. The tray was thrown with enough force that it deformed on impact with Chloe, though she didn't flinch from it. Chloe's pompadour hair isn't ruined, considering how much hair gel she had to use to even maintain it in the first place, but getting drenched in someone else's lunch isn't going to be pleasant for whoever is on the receiving end, and Chloe's expression spells it directly.

"You take back what you just said about Shiny Chariot!" Akko yelled at Chloe, as she gets ready to move in and slug her in the face.

Sucy decided that she has seen enough, and moved in to restrain Akko so she doesn't do anything stupid. The puce-haired girl may have had a penchant for being sadistic with her experiments, but she draws the line at actually being violent.

Meanwhile, all the other students in the cafeteria took out their mobile phones and started recording the whole fiasco.

Chloe wiped some of the food off her face, before shooting Akko a glare. "Merde..." She cursed in her native French.

That was it. Akko went totally berserk, as she tried to break free of Sucy's restrain to go hit Chloe.

"Stop it!"

The scene is promptly prevented from becoming violent by the mere arrival of a certain lettuce-haired girl.

"Can anyone tell me what in the Nines' names is going on here?" Asked Diana Cavendish as she approached Akko and Chloe, putting herself between the two.

* * *

Diana to the rescue!

If you ever have any doubts that this version of Chloe is a total asshole, then this chapter should eliminate any that you have for it. She's lucky that Akko was restrained, and Diana came to stop the fight before it can begin.

And yeah, Akko's Japanese accent is going to become an issue when she cast spells in the future, since the accent actually made the incantations sound like something else...

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	7. What About Chariot?

**Luna Nova cafeteria**

"Can anyone tell me what in the Nines' names is going on here?"

The whole cafeteria went silent as soon as Diana, flanked by Hannah and Barbara, showed up asking that.

"Kagari got into an argument with Dubois about Shiny Chariot." Avery, who was just hesitating to take her phone out to record the argument, summarized what happened to Diana. "And it kind of escalated from there."

"Shiny Chariot?" Diana raised her eyebrows upon hearing the name. "As in Chariot Du Nord, the performer and actress from France?"

Akko broke free of Sucy's hold after a few more seconds of struggling. "You know about Chariot?" She turned her attention to Diana. "Then tell this sorry excuse of a witch-" She then pointed at Chloe. "-how awesome Chariot is!"

Chloe didn't take Akko's insult kindly, especially not after taking a plate's worth of mashed potato to the face. The French bully had to be held back by her Coven mates so as to not resume the argument that Diana stopped.

"Kagari Atsuko, is it?" Diana directed her attention to Akko. "Pardon me for indirectly offending you, but I have always believed that Chariot Du Nord is a disgrace to witches and the concept of witchcraft, and nothing will change my opinion on it."

Akko rolled her eyes in reaction. "What...?"

"Magic is supposed to be an art steeped in tradition." Diana explained. "And Chariot's performances were none of it. In fact, she gave everyone the wrong impression in magic altogether."

As Akko widened her eyes at being told that, some of the students spectating the scene began to murmur to each other.

Diana then turned her attention on Chloe. "However, Dubois, I do disagree with the way you conveyed that message to Kagari. That is not the behavior an aristocrat from France, such as you, should have."

Chloe gritted her teeth. "Look who is talking! Aren't you a Scottish aristocrat yourself!"

Hannah and Barbara, who are standing by Diana's side, flinched at that statement, though they retained their smug expression.

Diana crossed her arms in response. "So? Heiresses such as us should never resort to such lowly bullying." She then fired back at Chloe.

Chloe gritted her teeth even more. "Why you- Hannah, Barbara, say something!"

Rather than defending their friend and fellow bully, Hannah and Barbara laughed at her the same way Avery and her Coven mates laughed at Akko back at the Leyline Terminal.

Chloe was at a loss of word on seeing her close friends' traitorous behavior. "Why...?"

"Why, you ask?" Hannah responded smugly. "Because Diana is so much better at everything than _you_, Chloe."

"She also does everything right on the first try." Barbara said, also smugly. "Especially in class."

"We have decided that we liked Diana better than you." Hannah added. "And so we decided to hang out with her from now on."

"Oh, don't worry, Chloe..." Barbara added in a mocking tone. "You still have your Coven mates, after all."

Akko, who was ignored by both Chloe and Diana, blinked in confusion to the sudden change of topic.

Diana silenced the smug duo by raising her left hand. "Enough, you two. We didn't come here to pick on someone." She told them. "Now, excuse me as I'm having another class in a few minutes..."

Saying that, Diana turned and left the cafeteria by herself.

"Live long and prosper~" Hannah mocked Chloe as she turned to leave the cafeteria.

"You can have fun with Little Lotte and the Chariot Fangirl as much as you want~" Barbara mocked as well. "Of course, you can always find us in our dorm if you liked~"

The smug duo both let out bitchy laughs as they headed for the cafeteria exit.

Chloe, who has all but forgotten about Akko, glared at her friends, or rather, her former friends, as they departed from the scene. The French bully became so enraged that her Coven Mates had to use all their strengths to restrain her.

"TRAITORS!" Chloe furiously yelled out at Hannah and Barbara, as she stomped on the marble floor hard enough to crack it and leave behind a crater. "HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME?! YOU TRAITORS! YOU WILL REGRET THIS!"

The Red Coven, who were standing in the middle of it all, decided to quickly excuse themselves from the cafeteria before the situation with Chloe can become outright explosive.

...

**The dormitories**

**Later that night...**

Chloe had spent the rest of the day in the Beige Coven dorm, sobbing about how she lost both her friends and her status as Luna Nova's celebrity student within the first day of the semester. The only people comforting the French celebrity student are her Coven mates.

A crowd of students gathered right outside the Beige Coven dorm as they eavesdropped on the Beige Coven. Most of them were actually celebrating about how Chloe got "knocked down a peg"...

"She kind of deserved it, actually..." Commented Avery who has an ear pressed against the door of the Beige Coven's dorm. "Even if England and Parker were too harsh about it..."

"But now that Hannah and Barbara has ditched Chloe to side with Diana..." Mary expressed her thoughts. "Are they going to corrupt her into another bully? I hope not..."

"Like we have any rights to say that..." Blair reminded her Coven mates. "Remember when we teased Kagari at the Terminal three days ago? I actually felt bad about it afterwards..."

Avery and Mary glanced at Blair after that. The blonde Italian witch does have a point.

Meanwhile, Lotte, poking her head out of the Red Coven dorm, watched in silence the crowd gathered outside the Beige Coven dorm for a bit, before retreating back inside, closing the door silently after that.

"I don't know what's going on with Chloe..." The glasses girl told her Coven mates. "But from how everyone was talking about her right now, she seems to be depressed about what Hannah and Barbara said to her..."

Akko looked up from the Shiny Chariot magazine she is reading right now. "Even if she totally deserved it, I kind of felt bad for her about being betrayed by her friends." She said. "I would never do that, no matter what."

"Yeah. Even I was disgusted by those two." Sucy said, referring to Hannah and Barbara, as she kept her eyes pointed at the potions experiment she is conducting at the moment. "Those two...bitches...aren't even worth being lab rats..."

Akko closed the Shiny Chariot magazine and put it aside. "They actually made Bakugou from _My Hero Academia_ look like a nice person in comparison. Who on earth would want to be friends with them?" She asked a rhetoric question.

The Red Coven's chat is interrupted when they heard the voice of an older woman right outside their dorm, telling the other student witches to get back to their dorms as it is past curfew time. It is followed by the sound of footsteps as the other students did as told.

"That doesn't sound like any one of the professors from today's classes, or even the headmistress..." Akko pointed out.

"But if not them, then who could it be?" Lotte wondered.

Sucy paid no attention as she fixated on her experiment.

That thought is immediately interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on their door. "Excuse me, but is Atsuko Kagari inside?"

Akko froze. Why is an adult woman, who is possibly a Luna Nova professor that she hasn't met yet, looking for her? Could she have gotten into trouble for something?

Lotte opened the door a little bit. "Yes, she's in..." She told whoever is standing outside.

"Then may I come in?" Asked the mystery woman.

"S-sure..." Lotte answered as she opened the door all the way, allowing the mystery woman to enter.

Standing right there is a bespectacled woman with blue hair, wearing the uniform of a Luna Nova professor.

"Did...did I do something wrong? Is it about what happened in the cafeteria at lunch?" Akko nervously asked the professor.

"You must be Atsuko Kagari." She said to Akko. "Don't worry, that isn't what I'm here for." She then joked.

Akko breathed a sigh of relief. As she put her attention on the blue-haired woman standing before her, she can't help but wonder why she seemed so familiar...

"My name is Ursula Callistis, and I will be teaching Fortune Telling classes this semester." The professor introduced herself.

"Ashura...Karisutisu...?" Akko repeated Professor Callistis' name, which came out mangled up by her Japanese accent. "And you teach... Fortune Telling?"

"Yes, of course." Professor Callistis confirmed. She also winced a bit at how her name was mangled up so much that it sounded like something else entirely.

"Um... Professor Callistis?" Lotte approached the blue-haired professor. "I don't recall ever seeing you in the previous semester..."

Professor Callistis turned to address Lotte. "Oh, that's because I just got transferred here." She answered. She then paused as something caught her eye. "Is that... the same staff that Chariot Du Nord used for her performances, such as those with Shiny Arc?"

Hearing the name of the unique staff caused Akko to perk up, as she went and grabbed it. "Yes, of course! It's Shiny Chariot's one and only Shiny Rod!"

As soon as Akko finishes saying that, the sound of a woman groaning can be heard, just like the one in the morning. Although the Japanese girl and her Coven mates missed it this time.

Professor Callistis, on the other hand, seemed to have heard the disembodied groan, and smiled in response to it. "I see..." She pretended to be reacting to Akko's excitement.

"Akko sure is a Shiny Chariot fan..." Lotte explained to the professor.

"Although..." Akko immediately noticed something else. "How did you know, at first glance, that this is the real Shiny Rod and not a licensed toy?"

That made Professor Callistis take a step back. In her fixation on having a conversation with Akko, she has forgotten to be discreet about her actual objective...

"Could it be that..." Akko trailed off, as she observed the professor a little bit closer.

Professor Callistis gulped, a behavior that Lotte, who noticed, found confusing.

"You're a Shiny Chariot fan too?!" Akko concluded excitedly.

_What...?_ Professor Callistis thought as she stood there, motionless due to being amazed by the conclusion that the Japanese girl came to.

"It has to be!" Akko continued as she closed in on Professor Callistis. Too close for the professor's comfort, in fact. "Only a true Chariot fan can recognize the real Shiny Rod from convincing replicas with just a glance!"

Professor Callistis gently pushed Akko back to give herself some breathing space. "They do, huh? My si- *Ahem* Her sincerest fans must've had too much time on their hands, training themselves to do it. In any case, yes, I'm a fan of hers too..."

Akko jumped in joy upon hearing it. "Yay! I knew I'm not the only Chariot fan in Luna Nova! You've just proved Chloe wrong!"

_Chloe, as in that girl from the prestigious Dubois family of France?_ Professor Callistis wondered.

Lotte walked up and put herself next to Professor Callistis and Akko. "Professor, why are you here, anyway?" She asked.

The professor paused for a bit before answering, "Well, to be honest, I heard rumors that one Atsuko Kagari is in possession of _a_ Shiny Rod, so my curiosity made me come to verify it in person." There were brief pauses between some of her words, indicating that she may have came up with it on the fly (Akko didn't notice, while Lotte did but paid no attention to it). "Imagine my surprise to see _the_ Shiny Rod right here." She finished, this time without any pauses.

That got the attention of, of all people, Sucy. "A professor took the effort to come see a student in person...just to confirm that said student has the same idol as she does?" The puce-haired girl scoffed. "I don't even know what to make of this..."

Akko ignored what Sucy said, as she maintained her focus on Professor Callistis. "And that, as I say, is a true Shiny Chariot fan!" She happily declared.

"Well, I guess that would be all, Atsuko..." Professor Callistis said as she turned to leave.

"You can call me Akko, professor." Akko told the professor.

"I'll remember that, Akko..." Professor Callistis acknowledged by signing OK with her left hand while she briefly turned back to Akko. "I'll see you again in Fortune Telling class tomorrow. And like Shiny Chariot used to say, a believing heart is your magic."

With that, the blue-haired professor walked out of the Red Coven's dorm, closing the door behind her.

"She's kind of... kind and timid for a Luna Nova professor..." Lotte remarked after that. "At least, compared to Professors Finneran and Badcock..."

It was only a handful of seconds later that the glasses girl found herself caught in yet another crushing hug by Akko.

"Isn't this great?!" Akko said excitedly. "Now I know I won't be the only Shiny Chariot fan in Luna Nova! This will be great! I can, and will definitely tell Chloe and Diana to... how do you westerners say it? Oh right. I will tell those two to stack it up!"

"It's actually 'stick it up'..." Lotte corrected Akko's mispronunciation.

"And once I get the Shiny Rod to work, I can then tell the same thing to Hannah and Barbara, and prove them wrong!" Akko continued her ramblings. "The perfect, just medicine for those two huge jerks!"

At the same time, Sucy went right back to her experiment, as she ignored her Coven mates for the rest of the night...

...

Professor Callistis stood right outside the Red Coven's dorm, with her back against the door.

The blue-haired professor looked down at her feet as she recalled the sight of the Shiny Rod being in Akko's possession.

"What did you see in her, my dear friend?"

* * *

OUCH! Even though Chloe just got struck by karma _hard_, I did it in such a way that'll make you feel sorry for her even if you hated her as much as _Star Wars_ fans hated Jar Jar Binks...

And on top of that, I just made Hannah and Barbara _so much worse_ here than they do in canon. Turns out they don't even care about actually being Chloe's friends, and they ditched her as soon as Diana demonstrated what she can do, and even casually _kicked the dog_ like it was Tuesday for them. And on that note as well, did they side with Diana just for what she can do, with no intention of actually socializing with her? And does that mean they are going to ditch her like they did Chloe when they eventually meet someone better than Diana? Even I shudders at the thought of that...

And hooray for Best Mom's more proper introduction into the story. Of course, we all know who she really is... do we?

"Just remember, a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	8. A Message From Shiny Rod

_Akko found herself back in the same black void that she somehow went in during the turbulence at the Leyline, and where she got the Shiny Rod._

_Unlike last time, however, Akko can feel that she is standing on a solid, albeit invisible, surface._

_"What is this place?" Akko wondered, as she looked around the black void for signs of anything else._

_All of a sudden, a flash of light exploded into existence in front of Akko, causing the Japanese girl to instinctively cover her eyes and take a step back._

_"What's going on?"_

_The flash of light didn't stay eye-blindingly bright for longer than a second, which Akko realized as she lowered her hands to look at what the light was._

_She found herself looking at a magic staff with an iconic appearance._

_"The Shiny Rod!" Akko exclaimed. "But didn't I have it already?"_

_As she approached to grab the Shiny Rod, a second bright flash exploded into existence behind the Shiny Rod. Unlike the first one, this one shone for seconds longer and isn't nearly as bright._

_Once the second bright flash has faded away, in its place stood a person with an instantly recognizable costume and red hair._

_"Shiny Chariot?!" Akko exclaimed again. "But what..."_

_Akko didn't have time to ask more questions as Chariot (or perhaps a doppelganger of the performer?) waved her left hand at the Shiny Rod, sending it slowly floating toward Akko._

_Akko became confused as to what the intended message was. "Are you giving me the Shiny Rod?" She asked Chariot._

_Chariot just smiled at the Japanese girl in response._

_Then the French performer spoke, "Just remember: a believing heart is the magic."_

_Akko blinked. "I know that. You ended all your performances with it." She replied, somewhat confused about what is going on. "Wait, something isn't right about that..."_

_Chariot responded with a tip of her hat._

_"The magic of the First of the Seven Stars of Jennifer the Great..."_

_Having said that, Chariot suddenly faded away._

_"Wait!" Akko called out as she tried to reach out to Chariot. "What are you talking about?!"_

_..._

**Red Coven's dorm**

"Wait!"

Akko soon found herself face-planting onto the floorboard as as she shot out of her bed.

Groaning about her now aching face, Akko picked herself up from the floor as she evaluated what she just saw.

"What was that all about?" She gave it a thought. "And what did she mean by 'the First of the Seven Stars of Jennifer'?"

Akko then tried to tell Lotte and Sucy about it, only to realize that the both of them have already left the dorm.

_Oh, they don't have the same class timetables as I do._ Akko thought to herself.

A series of knocks on the door drew Akko out of her thought.

"Akko, are you in? It's me." Came the voice of Professor Callistis from outside the dorm.

"Coming!" Akko went to open the door, letting in the blue-haired professor who is carrying a broom that has a red sash tied around its bristle. "Oh, Professor...Kurasutisu, right?"

Professor Callistis resisted the urge to cringe at such a severe butchering of her last name by Akko's accent. "I-if it helps with remembering my name, you can call me Professor Ursula..." She told the Japanese girl.

"I will, Professor Ashura! Thanks for the reminder!" Akko cheerfully acknowledged it.

The professor resisted the urge to cringe at the butchering of her first name this time, though at least it isn't as severe as her last name. "No problem..." She struggled to keep a straight face after that.

"So what brings you here to me this time, professor?" Akko then asked.

"Oh, about that..." Professor Ursula answered as she passed the broom to Akko. "This is your academy-issued flying broom. You are going to need it for your Broom Flight classes..."

Akko snatched the broom before the Professor can finish. She then hugged it like it was a precious treasure (just like with the Shiny Rod).

"You...have never flown a broom before, right?" Professor Ursula then asked Akko.

"I did ride with Lotte when getting to Luna Nova. But I was the passenger, so that wasn't me flying at that time." Akko answered, as she checked out every tiny detail of her newly acquired broom.

"A passenger, you say...?" Professor Ursula reacted to what she was told. While two witches riding on one flying broom isn't impossible, it's just uncommon enough to warrant odd reactions to learning about it.

Akko lowered the broom. "I didn't realize you needed a broom to even get to Luna Nova in the first place." She said, utterly embarrassed about it. "Good thing Lotte was there to give me a ride!" She then happily added.

"I see." Professor Ursula noted. This girl sure undergoes mood changes rapidly...

The blue-haired professor then glanced at the Shiny Rod, which rested on the dormitory desk.

"Is that-"

Akko ran to fetch the Shiny Rod - the broom still held in her other hand - and raised it above her for Professor Ursula to see.

"It's Shiny Chariot's iconic, one-of-a-kind magic staff, the Shiny Rod!" The Japanese girl excitedly introduced the staff to the professor. "Professor, you're a fan of Shiny Chariot too! You should know a lot about the Rod, right?"

"Can't say that I do..." Professor Ursula answered meekly. "I was actually wondering how you got it in the first place."

That question made Akko freeze. "It was really strange, actually..." She said. "I was in the Leyline with Lotte, on the way to Luna Nova. Then this big turbulence happened all of a sudden. I held on firmly, refusing to give up, and then I found myself in a place that's all black. That was where the Shiny Rod appeared right before my eyes. I grabbed it, and all of a sudden I was back in the Leyline, and the turbulence was gone."

Professor Ursula blinked. "Just like that?"

"Yes, just like that!" Akko raised both hands, along with the broom and Shiny Rod over her head. "I also wondered what it was doing on its own, with Shiny Chariot nowhere in sight..."

Professor Ursula seemed to flinch for some reason. "Well, I'm sure Chariot has her reasons..."

Akko let the broom go as she held the Shiny Rod with both hands. "In any case, I'm going to keep this for Shiny Chariot! And when I meet her, I'll give it back to her!" She declared, her eyes gleaming with excitement. She then raised the Shiny Rod over her head again, and locked her gaze on it. "And I'm sure we are going to see Chariot again soon, so don't you worry, Shiny Rod!"

_"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" _A voice suddenly screamed out in absolute frustration.

Professor Ursula reeled back in shock upon hearing that furious scream. But even more shocked than the blue-haired professor is Akko, who stared in disbelief at the source of the voice that she held in her hands.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Shiny Rod...?" Akko uttered to the Rod as she lowered it. "You... can... speak?"

_"...Damn you, Chariot..."_ The voice muttered, confirming that it did came from the Shiny Rod.

Akko just stood there, surprised that the one-of-a-kind magic staff she held in her hands can speak. She stared at it while her brain slowly processed the unexpected information.

"You really can speak, Shiny Rod!" Akko, as her brain finished processing the information, brought the Rod so close to her face that they're merely inches apart.

_"Don't call me 'Shiny Rod', please."_ The Shiny Rod spoke again, with frustration notable in its disembodied voice. _"I hate that...despicable nickname Chariot Du Nord gave me."_

Akko blinked. "Is that why you never spoke during any one of Chariot's performances?" She then asked. "Then what do you want to be called?"

_"Claiomh Solais__."_ The Shiny Rod answered. _"Just Claiomh Solais. That is my real name..."_

"Kurau... sorasu...?" Akko struggled with the pronunciation, which is made nearly incomprehensible by her Japanese accent. "That's really hard to pronounce. I think I'll stick with Shiny Rod." She declared.

The Shiny Rod groaned in frustration.

Professor Ursula, who was frozen in shock for the past one minute, recovered from her shock. "Pardon me for interrupting, Akko, but don't you have Broom Flying Class in, uh," The professor glanced at the clock on the desk. "in five minutes?"

Akko reacted as if an atomic bomb has been dropped somewhere near her. "Oh no! I'm going to be late!" She quickly dropped the Shiny Rod on the floor and picked up the broom. "I'll see you again later, professor!" She said as she ran out of the dorm as fast as she could.

With the Japanese girl's departure, Professor Ursula now found herself alone in the Red Coven's dorm, with the only other "person" inside being the revealed-to-be-sentient Shiny Rod.

"She's quite the hyperactive girl." Professor Ursula mused as she went to pick up the Shiny Rod. "Don't you agree, old friend?"

_"I still prefer being with Jennifer..."_ Shiny Rod sulked. _"Just... why did Woodward think she is as worthy of wielding me as yo-"_

"Well, she must've proved herself worthy for you to be here in the first place." Professor Ursula interrupted. "You just have to be patient to find out how she's worthy, just like when we obtained-"

_"**Mayenab Dysheebudo** \- the Star of Patience..."_ Shiny Rod finished the sentence for the professor. _"But I wish Atsuko knows about it, and don't reveal my sentience to anyone so soon..."_

...

**The sports field; Luna Nova campus**

"Shiny Rod can _speak_!"

Akko excitedly announced to her coven mates, drawing much unwanted attention from everyone else on the field who are waiting for Broom Flying class to start.

"That's... unbelievable..." Lotte reacted to the news with awkward surprise.

"Are you sure you didn't just imagine it?" Sucy said dully. "With that tiny potato brain in your head, it wouldn't be a surprise..."

"No, it's true! Shiny Rod did speak to me back in the dorm a few minutes ago!" Akko argued. "And it turns out _she_ hates being called Shiny Rod! _She_ insisted on being called... Kurau...sorasu..." She continued, and once again had trouble pronouncing the name. "In any case, Shiny Rod spoke to me, just to tell me that she hates being called that!"

Lotte's eyes widened, as she has no idea how to respond to that, despite her disbelief at what she just heard.

Sucy, on the other hand, kept her stoic face. Though a slight twitch in her right eye indicates that she is a little bit surprised by it. "I had to believe you, since there is no way your tiny potato brain can come up with all that..." She deadpanned.

Akko pouted at Sucy's indifferent attitude. "Well, if you still don't believe me, I'll just have to show you lat-"

Akko stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Lotte suddenly held her broom out and tried to hide behind it. She hasn't been in Luna Nova, or known Lotte for longer than a week, but she knows that only three people in the entire academy could make Lotte behave like that.

With a frown on her face, Akko turned around, expecting to see the smug trio of Chloe, Hannah, and Barbara. "What do you three jerks wan-"

She was wrong. Chloe, with a gloomy look on her face, walked past the Red Coven while accompanied by her Coven mates. Hannah and Barbara were nowhere near the French bully.

"Just so you know, I'm not in the mood to deal with you two right now..." Chloe told the Red Coven without sparing them a glance. "You two can continue to fawn over Shiny Chariot and _Night Fall_..."

And just like that, the French bully simply left the scene without so much as an insult. Everyone looked on in astonishment, even Lotte who came out of hiding behind her broom to do so.

"Wow..." Despite her usual deadpan tone, one can still tell that Sucy is also astonished. "Those two really _are_ despicably repulsive..."

"Are Hannah and Barbara really bad enough that they'll casually betray their own friend for someone better?" Akko muttered. "If so, they should just get stepped on by the next Kaiju that shows up."

Lotte winced at that statement. "I-it doesn't have to be that extreme..." She voiced her opinion.

"So, as I was saying!" Akko suddenly changed the topic. "Shiny Rod can speak, and I'm going to prove it to you two!"

That was when a whistle was blown, drawing everyone's attention to where it came from.

"Alright, ladies! Broom Flying class is about to start!" Shouted a professor as she marched into view. "So grab your brooms and get into position!"

"...After the class." Akko added as she grabbed her broom and scrambled into position on the sports field.

* * *

I bet you were not expecting Shiny Rod to be able to speak in this story. So does that mean we have to start treating Shiny Rod as a person rather than an object from now on? You decide...

And it turns out Shiny Rod actually regrets being with Chariot, only because it (she?) thinks "Shiny Rod" is an embarrassing name and could never live down being called that by the public consciousness. Poor Shiny Ro- er, I mean, Claiomh Solais...

So next chapter, we'll be seeing Akko having her first Broom Flying class, as well as getting to see our favorite redheaded Irish-American witch along with her German and Russian friends.

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	9. Hooked On a Feeling

**Sports field**

Ever since watching that performance by Shiny Chariot over a decade ago, Akko became mesmerized by the world of magic, and had wanted to become a witch herself so she can follow in her idol's footsteps.

But if there's anything the Japanese girl wanted as much as that, it is the idea that she'd be able to fly on a broom like most witches would.

And that's exactly what made Akko excited about her first Broom Flying class.

"Alright, ladies, listen up!" Said the professor of the class in a drill sergeant-type commanding tone. "For those of you who are new here or have forgotten about it during the summer vacation, my name is Adrien Nelson, and I am the professor of Broom Flying class!"

Akko, standing in formation with the rest of the class, tried to hold back her excitement. _This is it! I'm finally going to be able to fly!_ She thought to herself.

"Now, broom-flying is one of the most basic things you will be doing as a witch, no matter what job you take after graduating!" Professor Nelson continued with the introduction of the class. "However, that doesn't change the fact that you're still flying who knows how far off the ground, and falling from great heights without safety measures can be hazardous to your health, as a lot of my friends back in the United States Air Force can attest to!" She loudly emphasized that part.

Akko can agree with the professor on the "falling can be hazardous" part. When she was little, she fell a lot from all of her failed attempts at flying a broom, and although none of those falls caused long-lasting injuries, they were all lessons to be learned about safety in broom-flying.

"Before we start, let's do some basic warm-up exercises!" Professor Nelson barked at everyone. "Because you _do not_ want to suffer sudden muscle cramps when you're high in the air!

...

After five minutes of warm-up exercises, Professor Nelson had the students sorted into two groups: the returning students (apparently all Luna Nova students must take Broom Flying class every semester even if they passed it before) are told to go practice what they have learned in the previous semester(s), while the new students found themselves standing before the professor as they will be taught the basics.

Akko, however, is confused as to why she and the other students, including the returning ones, had to wear a helmet and this weird looking backpack for Broom Flying class.

"As I've said earlier, broom-flying is the most basic thing a proper witch would be doing, but it can still be dangerous. And that is why you ladies are wearing these safety helmets and parachutes - they are safety measures, just in case anything goes wrong." Professor Nelson explained.

_Oh, they're safety measures, like when you're riding a bike. That makes sense._

"Before we start the class, does anyone have any questions?" Professor Nelson asked everyone present.

Only one student raised her hand, and that's Teresa Finneran.

"Professor, you were once my mother's classmate, right?" Asked Teresa bluntly.

Professor Nelson sounds confused by the question. "Remind me, who's your mother again?"

"Professor Anne Finneran." Teresa gave a straightforward answer...

A straightforward answer that made the Broom Flying class professor freeze in surprise, and confirmed once and for all for the other students that one of their fellow classmates is the daughter of Luna Nova's strictest professor. The only person on the field who isn't surprised one bit about the revelation is Diana Cavendish.

"I assume her being a control freak got on your nerves all the time, professor?" Teresa continued.

Professor Nelson stood frozen for another five seconds before responding, "W-well, you're right about her being a control freak, and she did get on my nerves a couple of times..." She said. "But what did she tell you about me... Actually, don't answer that. I think I know the answer already..."

That got everyone giggling in response, except, again, Diana.

"Enough of that!" Professor Nelson changed the topic. "Everyone get into position! We will start with the most basic of the basics!"

Everyone stopped giggling and did as told.

"Alright..." Professor Nelson then blew the whistle before starting. "First, hold your broom out."

Everyone did as told. Akko was a bit impetuous, and her broom almost slipped out of her hands, though she was able to hold it in place and get back into position.

"Second, pay respect to your broom..." Professor Nelson continued...

...And paused as she noticed everyone (save Akko who is giving her broom a military salute) rolling their eyes at that.

Professor Nelson sighed. "Yes, I know it sounds childish. But it does work most of the time. So would you ladies kindly do as told? It doesn't have to be a military salute, mind you..."

Only Molly McIntyre and Elizabeth Cullen responded by slightly lowering their heads and uttering something.

Professor Nelson sighed again. "Well then..." She continued, ignoring a song that suddenly started playing somewhere in the background. "Third, get on your broom, like so." She then demonstrated by straddling her broom. "And this is when you imagine yourself flying in the skies, and chant the spell: _**Tia Freyle**_!"

"**_Tia Freyle_**!" All the students did as told, as they collectively chanted the spell and started to hover off the ground.

Akko is particularly excited about this, as she felt herself lifting off the ground. She has been waiting for over 10 years just for this moment. To be able to fly on a broom like any witches would. To be able to touch the sky. To be able to fly alongside the birds.

Except there is one slight issue with all that...

She is merely hovering a few inches off the ground. That doesn't sound underwhelming for a beginner, but compared to all her fellow classmates whose hovering heights are measured in _feet_, that does look pretty lame.

Akko looked up at the others. Her cheeks red from feeling embarrassed. "Well, uh, looks like everyone else are much better at this..."

The Japanese girl is quickly cut off when most of her classmates started laughing. Sucy didn't laugh, but she did chortle at the bit. Diana, on the other hand, looked like she is above such lowly acts, and kept her stoic face.

Akko pouted. She tried to prove everyone wrong by attempting to steer her broom higher...and only managed to raise a few more inches.

"Don't fret, Miss Kagari." Professor Nelson flew over and told her. "As they usually say, practice makes perfect. I'm sure you'll be able to do better if you work for it."

The professor then looked up at the other students. She was about to tell them to stop laughing until she saw one of the students making her grit her teeth.

"Miss Cavendish!" Professor Nelson called out to Diana. "Come down here and put your safety helmet and parachute back on!"

Everyone else stopped laughing and turned toward Diana. Indeed, the Cavendish heiress is the only one not wearing the provided helmet and parachute pack. Everyone are shocked as to why an honor student like her would be not wearing school-mandated safety equipment, and _intentionally_ at that.

Akko looked over at the returning students at the other side of the sports field. She can see that even Chloe, Hannah, and Barbara have their helmets and parachute packs on. So why would Diana refuse to put hers on?

Diana descended from the air until she is at the same elevation as Professor Nelson. "Witchcraft is an art steeped in tradition. To use these modern appliances is an insult to witchcraft." She casually responded.

Professor Nelson then glared at Diana. "I don't care if it goes against ancient tradition! It's safety first in my classes! So go _put them on_, or I'm giving you an F Minus for Broom Flying when the semester ends! You hear me!?"

With the professor outright threatening Diana with a tardy on her grades, the heiress has no choice but to obey with a grunt. "As you wish, professor..." She said as she dismounted from her broom and went to fetch her helmet and parachute pack that she ditched earlier.

Akko stared at Diana in astonishment. Turns out this seemingly perfect, flawless honor student has such a major flaw...

"_Traditionalists_. Not even Anne is that bad..." Professor Nelson muttered. "Even Amanda didn't ditch her safety equipment for any reason..."

Akko, who was hovering right next to the professor, overheard her muttering. "Who's Amanda?" She asked.

Before Akko can get an answer, something flew past her with enough speed to knock her off her broom with the displaced air.

That didn't hurt Akko much, if at all. So she got up relatively quickly before looking at what had knocked her down.

It was one of the returning students, performing some amazing feats of acrobatics on her broom while wearing a casual expression on her face and seemingly enjoying the moment.

At the same time, the song that has been playing in the background the whole time reached a loud chorus, which seems to have been timed perfectly by (or with?) the acrobatics-performing student performing a somersault on her broom.

After the somersault, the student witch stopped her acrobatics to take off her safety helmet and catch a breath, revealing her two-toned red hair in the process. "Hell, yes." She then said to herself.

"Amanda O'Neil!" Professor Nelson yelled at the redhead. "How many times have I told you that _no acrobatics_ are allowed in Broom Flying classes?!"

The redhead, now named Amanda, responded by turning around, putting her back against the professor. "Jeez, what a buzzkill..."

"And please turn off this annoying song!" Professor Nelson added.

Amanda took out her wand. With a wave, the song died out and the field became silent. "What's wrong with Blue Swede's _Hooked on a Feeling_, anyway?" She muttered. "After all, it was good enough that they put in _Guardians of the Galaxy_..."

At the same time, Akko wondered when is the class going to continue normally...

...

Beyond Diana refusing to wear safety equipment, and Amanda performing unauthorized acrobatics, the Broom Flying class concluded without a hitch.

For Akko, however, it was a bit humiliating that she has the worst performance in class among the new students. Sure, she finally got her wish of being able to fly like a witch, but she needs to fly higher if she were to become a _proper_ witch.

With Broom Flying class having ended for today, all the students packed up their brooms, as well as returned the safety helmets and parachute packs to Professor Nelson, as they head off for their next class, or go back to their dorms for those who don't have classes for the moment.

"And Diana is the one Hannah and Barbara ditched Chloe for?" Akko, as she prepared to go back to the Red Coven's dorm, overheard Avery gossiping with her Coven mates. "She outright _refused_ to wear safety equipment, because they're not traditional witchcraft? Give me a break!"

"At first, I thought it was her displaying the usual 'Scottish daredevil' stereotype..." Mary chimed in. "Turns out it was because she is more traditionalist than Professor Finneran..."

"Hard to believe an honor student like her would give a professor a bad first impression..." Blair also chimed in.

Akko shook her head. As much as she wanted to agree with Purple Coven, she doesn't want to interact with them, given what they said about her back at the Leyline Terminal.

"Purple Coven, is it?" A none-too-familiar Scottish-accented voice caused Avery, Mary, and Blair to freeze. "What were you girls saying about me?"

The Purple Coven girls slowly turned to face Diana, with chills running down their spine - which was understandable, since Diana was sorted into Blue Coven with the bullies Hannah and Barbara, and everyone have reasons to believe those two may have corrupted Diana into becoming a bully.

Even Akko took a step back, prepared to turn tail and escape should the situation with Diana become as degenerate as it would with Hannah and Barbara.

"I-it was n-nothing..." Avery responded.

"We...we were just gossiping about..." Mary also responded.

All that came out of Blair's mouth are unintelligible mumbles.

Diana rolled her eyes at how Purple Coven reacted to her presence. "If this is about my background, then-"

"So you're the princess that England and Parker ditched Rich Bitch Chloe for?" Says Amanda as she suddenly appeared, putting herself between Diana and the Purple Coven.

The Purple Coven took this opportunity to make their getaway from the field.

Akko watched as Avery and her Coven mates ran away from the scene toward the dormitories. The thought that Purple Coven, whom bullied her on her first day, were afraid of Diana being corrupted into a bully says _a lot_ about just the kind of terrible people that Hannah and Barbara are...

"Amanda O'Neil, is it?" Diana looked at the redhead. "And what did you mean by Hannah and Barbara ditching Dubois?"

Amanda crossed her arms and tilted her head. "Weren't you right there when they utterly destroyed Chloe's pride in the cafeteria yesterday?" She reminded.

"Although I admit that Hannah and Barbara stepped out of the line in their gloating," Diana said. "Dubois deserved it as penance for her attitude..."

"Yeah, can't argue with that." Amanda acknowledged with a snap of her fingers. "But, I just saw you picking on Avery and her friends. Didn't you, also yesterday in the cafeteria, rip Chloe a new one for doing that to the Reds?" The redhead then glanced at Akko and threw her a wink.

Akko didn't know how to respond, so she just stood there and watched.

Diana narrowed her eyebrows. "I will never resort to such lowly acts as bullying less capable students. It is against the ideology of the House of Cavendish to engage in such behavior..."

"What's with your royal way of speaking? Never saw you as a literal princess..." Amanda interrupted Diana, then interrupted herself as an idea suddenly came to her, which is made apparent by the redhead's cheeky grin.

Diana scowled, apparently picking up on what Amanda is planning. Akko's limited intellect prevented her from fully understanding the atmosphere, but she could still vaguely guess what is coming, having been familiar with being mocked and insulted herself.

"Silly for me to look down on a bloody wee lass like ye, ay?" Amanda said as she put on a downright repulsive Scottish accent, very definitely with the intent of mocking Diana. "Perhaps ye can toss a few cabers after finishing ye haggis, or ye no' a true Scotswoman!" Amanda burst out laughing as she finished her stereotype-inspired insult.

Diana pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked like she is resisting the urge to just up and punch Amanda. "First of all, that is not how a Scottish person actually speaks." She argued. "Second, what you did just now contradicts your own criticism on bullying..."

"That all coming from the princess who ripped someone else a new one just for _liking_ Shiny Chariot?" Amanda interrupted. "You got some nerves, calling me a hypocrite, when you're one yourself."

At that point, Diana looked like she is about to have hot steam coming out of her ears.

"Ah, what am I saying? You princesses are always like that." Amanda said with a shush. "See you later, Cabbage Hair."

And with that, Amanda walked past Diana without sparing her a glance.

"Don't mind O'Neil, Diana..." Hannah said as she joined the heiress. "She's got a bad reputation in Luna Nova for doing things like that all the time."

"She's always like that, giving everyone she meets a headache." Barbara said as she too joined in. "Let's just go and do our own things..."

At the same time, Amanda approached Akko with a smile on her face.

"There. That's what that lettuce-head gets for insulting Shiny Chariot to her Number One Fan's face. No need to thank me." Amanda told Akko.

"That was pretty harsh, though." Akko responded.

"Sometimes, the only way to knock a harsh person down a peg is to be harsher yourself." Amanda said. She then extended a hand toward Akko. "I'm Amanda O'Neil, by the way."

Akko took Amanda's hand and shook it. "Kagari Atsuko... I mean, Atsuko Kagari. But you can call me Akko." She introduced herself to the redhead.

"Akko, huh? You sound Japanese. Probably explains your accent." Amanda noted.

"So Amanda, you're a fan of Shiny Chariot too?" Akko then asked.

Amanda scratched her head in response to that question. "Well, not a fan per se." She answered. "But I do like the way she defied her peers to do her own thing. Chariot haters like Chloe Dubois and Cabbage-dish can go suck it up, for all I know."

"I knew I'm not the only one in Luna Nova who likes Chariot!" Akko said happily.

The conversation is cut short when two witches - one chubby and with pink hair, the other short and with dark hair - approached Amanda. Judging by the green sashes that they shared with Amanda, they are probably in Green Coven with the redhead.

"Jas, Cons! Took you two long enough!" Amanda waved at her Coven mates. She then turned to Akko, "These are my friends in Green Coven. The chubby one is Jasminka Antonenko, and the short...I mean, the grumpy-looking one is Constanze Amalie Von Braunschbank Albrechtsberger, or you can just call her Constanze." She introduced her Coven mates before turning back to them. "So you girls have anything in mind?"

The short witch, Constanze, who has what looked like a fully metallic backpack on her back, is the one to respond...with a grunt.

"You just want to keep working on your stuff?" Amanda, somehow understanding the short witch's grunt as an entire sentence, asked, to which the short witch answered with a nod.

"What about you, Jas?" Amanda asked the chubby witch, Jasminka. "You want to grab a bite?"

That question was a rather redundant one, as Jasminka is already eating out of a bag of potato chips at the moment. "I already have." She answered between her bites.

"Well, that's a shame. I was thinking on playing a prank on Avery while she is having one of her live-streams..." Amanda lamented.

Akko stood at the side as she watched Amanda talking to her Coven mates.

"Oh well, let's get back to our dorm." Amanda then told her Coven mates. "Cons, mind giving us a ride?"

Constanze responded with a grunt before setting down her metallic backpack.

Akko wondered what Constanze is going to make the metallic backpack do. Something magical that she has never seen before, perhaps?

Instead of something magical, however, something _technological_ happened: the backpack began to unfold itself in a similar fashion as one of those old school mecha anime. Bits and kibbles twisted and turned before the mass of metal settled down as a go-kart (that somehow seemed bigger than the backpack that it was earlier).

Akko wondered why the go-kart looked awfully familiar. Though it didn't take her too long before she realized why.

"Hey! It was you!" Akko pointed out. "Back at the town a few days ago, you almost ran me over with that thing!"

Amanda jerked her head toward Akko. "That was you back at Blytonbury? Uh, I'm so sorry..."

* * *

And here in this extra long chapter, we're introduced to the Green Coven: Amanda, Constanze, and Jasminka. Let's give them a warm welcome, shall we?

Amanda strikes me as the kind that likes to listen to pop songs, not unlike Peter Quill from _Guardians of the Galaxy_. So expect to see more pop songs being mentioned in later chapters. I originally wanted to apply the same thing to Akko with J-Pop songs, but couldn't find any that sounded suitable (not to mention that I don't speak a lick of Japanese), so that characteristic ended up not being used.

I don't think I need to explain why Professor Nelson insisted on all students having to wear helmets and parachutes for Broom Flying class, as the reason is pretty obvious and already given right here in this chapter. But the fact that Diana refused to wear them when Amanda of all people wore them without asking questions just says a lot about how much of a traditionalist Diana is (considering that Nelson had to _threaten_ her with a fail grade to get her to budge), and it even caused some students to start doubting her legitimacy as an honor student (not that she isn't one).

Why does Diana here behave like so? Well, for starters, I hated how Diana was portrayed as a "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-all" flawless Mary Sue-ish character in the first cour of the anime. So I gave her a few flaws, beginning with her disobeying modern safety procedures in class, in order to, bluntly put, _nerf_ her. She won't be nerfed so much as to become an incompetent character, but she's not going to be so competent as to solve every problem just by showing up.

By the way, I subscribe to the theory that Diana is Scottish, because she's from Wedinburgh, which is one letter away from Edinburgh, Scotland.

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic."

_Afterwords end here._


	10. A Chat With Ursula

**Red Coven's dorm**

As there is still another four hours until the next class starts, the Red Coven returned to their dorm after Broom Flying class (and after Akko has confronted Amanda and Constanze for almost running over her with their go-kart).

"It's a shame that I could only manage a few inches when you two flew much higher than I did." Akko said to her Coven mates.

"At least you were able to take off at all." Lotte encouraged her. "That's pretty amazing for someone who lived her entire life as a Muggle."

"Too bad you didn't fall and chip a tooth..." Sucy said with a tone of indifference. "I could've used a tooth for my experiments..."

The pale Filipino's statement made Lotte reel in disgust. "Ew, Sucy! That's gross!"

"And yet you consider pies made of months-old fermented fish as snacks..." Sucy argued.

"You...kind of have a point, actually..." Lotte is not the kind of person to argue about one's definition of gross, so she gave a simple response.

At the same time, as Akko went over to pick up (and greet) the Shiny Rod, she noticed her Alcor plush sitting on a folded piece of paper that wasn't there before she went to Broom Flying class.

"Who left this here?" Akko wondered as she picked up and unfolded the paper, revealing a message written on it.

_Dear Asuko Kagami, since you left in a hurry before I could ask you this, can I have a short moment with you? I will be in my office at the New Moon Tower.  
~Professor Ursula Callistis  
_

_P.s.: You can bring along Shiny Rod if you want to._

"Professor Ashura?" Akko wondered. "I guess she has more to talk about? She misspelled my name, though..."

_"If you are going to meet Ursula, _don't_ take me with you..."_

Akko blinked in confusion about the voice before remembering that it belonged to the Shiny Rod.

"Why not?" Akko asked Shiny Rod as she picked up up. "Aren't you happy to see another fan of the person who wielded you?"

Shiny Rod made a sound that resembled a scoff. _"Not if I'm going to be called by that embarrassing name."_

"How is 'Shiny Rod' an embarrassing name?" Akko countered. "It is easier to remember than... your other name, and that's how the whole world knows about you."

"I'd much rather be reduced to dust than be called 'Shiny Rod' until the end of time..." Shiny Rod gave a deadpan response.

"'From the legends'?" Akko pointed out. "What do you mea-"

The magic staff was suddenly yanked out of the Japanese girl's hands by a pair of pale hands.

"You're not high on anything, Akko..." Sucy said indifferently as she held the Shiny Rod closer for inspection. "The Rod really can talk..."

_"Ugh. The potion fumes..."_ Shiny Rod groaned.

"Hey, give it back!" Akko said as she snatched Shiny Rod back from Sucy.

"I've talked to the spirits of objects before..." Lotte joined in. "But for the object _itself_ to speak? That's... certainly new..." She noticed the piece of paper. "What's that?"

"That's... uh... a message from Professor Ursula." Akko answered. "She wants me to meet her at her office."

"Professor Callistis? What does she want to talk with you about?" Lotte asked.

"I don't know. That's why I'm going to see her now." Akko answered.

"And you're bringing the Shiny Rod with you?"

"She said so..."

_"No, she didn't."_

Lotte then glanced at Shiny Rod.

"Nice to meet you, Shiny Rod." The glasses girl greeted the magic staff.

Shiny Rod groaned. _"Don't call me that..."_

"Why not?" Lotte tilted her head in response. "The whole world knows you by that name..."

_"Because it's a terrible name!"_ Shiny Rod argued. _"People are never going to remember my real name because of it!"_

"Well, you can blame yourself for having a name that's hard to pronounce..." Akko counter-argued.

_"It's only hard for you."_ Shiny Rod counter-counter-argued.

Sucy eyed the Shiny Rod with indifference. "For a talking staff that is sentient, the Shiny Rod sure is terrible at appreciating fame..."

Shiny Rod groaned so hard at being called that by Sucy that if it had a human body, it'd have tore its hair right off in frustration.

...

**Luna Nova hallway**

_"I said _don't_ bring me to Ursula with you!"_

"Why? Because you hate being called Shiny Rod?"

_"Because I don't want everyone to call me that!"_

"Sucy was right. You are terrible at appreciating fame."

Akko had brought along Shiny Rod, much to its protest, as she headed for Professor Ursula's office. Along the way, the two's conversation (or argument, depending on who you ask) had drawn the attention of the other students in the hallway.

Much gossip ensued as the students took notice of the unique design of Shiny Rod and the fact that it is talking.

"Is that the Shiny Rod?"

"The one-of-a-kind magic staff owned by Shiny Chariot?"

"No way! That's probably a cheap plastic imitation!"

"And yet it can talk, and is even arguing with Kagari."

"Why does it have an Irish accent, though?"

Akko paid little attention to the gossips as she continued walking down the hallway. Shiny Rod, however, did pay attention.

_"Even those who don't like Chariot are calling me 'Shiny Rod'..."_ The magic staff lamented. _"Oh, why does this have to happen to me?"_

"At least everyone remembers you." Akko reassured.

_"They're not remembering me for what I really am!"_ Shiny Rod countered.

Akko rolled her eyes. "Then what do you want everyone to remember you fo-"

Akko wasn't paying attention to where she is going, and bumped into none other than Diana Cavendish, who is at the moment accompanied by Hannah and Barbara.

"Watch where you're going!" Hannah warned.

"Hey, isn't she the Shiny Chariot fan girl who tried to blast us with her toy Shiny Rod?" Barbara pointed out.

"You're right, Barbs! It is her!"

"She can't even cast spells properly! At least she can fly a broom, though, if for just a few tiny inches. Ha ha ha ha!"

Akko looked down at the floor, away from Hannah and Barbara's smug faces. Now she knows how Lotte felt being bullied.

Hannah and Barbara's teasing would've continued had Diana not raised her hand to silence them.

"Where were you going, Kagari?" Diana asked.

"To- to see Professor Ursula." Akko answered.

"Professor Callistis, the new Fortune Telling professor? What is your reason?"

"N-nothing. Just an ordinary chat."

And with that, Akko continued on her way, running past the Blue Coven without looking back.

"'Just an ordinary chat'?" Hannah said smugly while doing an intentionally terrible imitation of Akko's noticeable Japanese accent (so bad that Hannah herself cringed at it).

"Who knows, Han? Maybe she's just trying to get on the new professor's good side with some sweet arse-kissing talk~" Barbara said, also smugly.

"Enough, you two." Diana interrupted the smug duo. "Where are your manners?"

Hannah and Barbara dropped their smug facade and straightened themselves. "Sorry, Diana..." They both said in unison.

As the smug duo walked on by themselves, Diana glanced over her shoulders just in time to see Akko turning around a corner, bumping into yet another student who she quickly apologized to. Something about the Japanese girl sent the honor student deep in thought.

"That staff she is holding...Is that..."

...

**New Moon Tower**

It took Akko a few wrong turns and asking a goblin janitor for directions, but she was able to make her way to the New Moon Tower without too much hassle (aside from her brief encounter with the Blue Coven).

The Japanese girl found herself standing before a blue wooden door with a small circular window on it. Attached to the front of the door is a sign that says _"Ursula Callistis: professor of Fortune Telling"_, making it unquestionable to Akko that she came to the right place.

Akko gulped nervously. This is the first time she came to see a professor by herself. Well, there was the time in secondary school when the headmaster called her parents over because she pushed the school's fire alarm button out of curiosity. But this is a different situation than that one because 1) she came here by herself; and 2) this is simply Professor Ursula asking for a little chit-chat.

Making up her mind, she approached the door, and raised a hand to knock on it...

_"Do me a favor and don't mention Chariot Du Nord or her performances when you are chatting with Ursula..."_ Shiny Rod suddenly said.

Akko paused for a bit to roll her eyes. "Is that why you never spoke during any one of Chariot's performances?" She asked, annoyed by the talking magic staff's constant complaining about its name.

Shiny Rod didn't answer. It simply made a sound that resembled sighing.

Deciding to ignore Shiny Rod, Akko gently knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it.

It didn't take very long for someone to answer the door. "Who's there?" Ursula inquired as she look out of the small window from inside her office.

"Professor, it's me!" Akko answered as she waved at Ursula. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Oh, yes." Ursula said as she then opened the door. "Thank you for coming, Akko." She greeted. "This will only take a short moment. Please come in."

Akko did as told, and entered the professor's office.

Professor Ursula's office is actually quite a large one, enough to double as a residence. In one corner is a desk next to a shelf filled with things that Akko couldn't identify. In another corner is a couch, a sofa, and a tea table. Directly across the office from the entrance is a large telescope pointing out of a large window into the sky.

"Please take a seat." Ursula said as she lead Akko to the couch. "How about some tea?" She then asked.

"That will be fine..." Akko answered as she sat down on the couch, placing Shiny Rod on the armrest.

As Akko waited for Ursula to prepare the tea, she continued to look around the room, scrutinizing its details.

A globe sat on the desk alongside a table lamp and several textbooks on Astrology and Fortune Telling, while the things on the shelf are still unrecognizable to Akko. But stuck to the side of the shelf facing the table, which is not visible from the entrance, is unmistakably a poster of Shiny Chariot, just like the one Akko has by her bunk bed in the Red Coven's dorm. To the opposite side of the table is a perch that has a white crow perched on top of it, which appeared to be sleeping. Akko can't help but wonder why the white crow looked so familiar...

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Ursula said as she brought a tray with a teapot and two teacups over, and placed them on the tea table.

"It's okay..." Akko reassured.

Ursula poured a cup of tea, and passed it to Akko who accepted it only to quickly put it back on the tea table as it was rather hot.

"In the western world, we hold teacups by the handle, actually." Ursula gently pointed out for Akko.

"Oh, right. This isn't Japan." Akko acknowledged. She accepted the teacup again as Ursula passed it to her again, this time holding it by the handle. Akko watched as Ursula take a sip from the other cup of tea, and then tried to copy the blue-haired professor.

It resulted in the Japanese girl quickly putting the teacup back down again as her tongue reacted badly to the heat.

Ursula stifled a laugh upon seeing that. "Got a cat's tongue?" She joked.

"Yes..." Akko answered. She then paused as she looked at Ursula. "Wait. How do you know what a "cat's tongue" is?" She then asked.

Ursula squirmed for a bit before answering, "I...uh, have been to Japan for a while before..."

Akko suddenly shot up from the couch. "Is the 7th of July, year 2006 one of the days you were there?!"

Ursula backed into the sofa behind her, and sat on it. "Well, uh...yes..."

"Then you must have watched Shiny Chariot's performance that day!" Akko then said excitedly. "That was the only time she performed in Japan, and I still remember every detail of it, especially when it was halted for a minute due to a malfunction in the stage equipment!"

Ursula looked at Akko in amazement. She had to give credit to this fangirl for remembering even the embarrassing details of that one performance, which she _is_ present at on that day.

"That also means we could have seen each other for the first time that day!" Akko added. "Isn't it wonderful to meet a fellow Shiny Chariot fan you saw in one country, only to see her again in another country over a decade later?"

Ursula straightened her sitting posture. "Well, there was quite a lot of people that day. So even if I have seen you, I probably don't remember it..."

Akko then sat back down on the couch. "Good point. I can remember every single details I saw that day, and a woman with blue hair isn't among them."

"True. I wouldn't have remembered seeing an excited little girl back then." Ursula agreed. "That aside, I asked you to come because I wanted to ask you something..."

Akko perked up. "Huh? About what?" She glanced at Shiny Rod. "The Shiny Rod?"

"Yes, of course." Ursula said. "Why don't you start by telling me how you got it?"

"Well, it's very complicated..." Akko began with her explanation, starting with the turbulence in the Leyline tunnel on the way to Luna Nova, to the best of her ability and English vocabulary...

"It just...came to you?" Ursula summarized what she was just told, not fully understanding it despite Akko's effort.

"At least, that's what I think..." Akko added. "Shiny Rod didn't speak to me back there..." Saying that, the Japanese girl then looked at Shiny Rod before picking it up. "Hey, Shiny Rod, mind telling me why you came to me?"

_"No."_ Shiny Rod flat out refused.

"Only because we were calling you Shiny Rod?" Ursula said to the magic staff. "Oh, you never change..."

_"The only thing changed about me is that I went from being the legendary Claiomh Solais to a stage performer's tool!"_ Shiny Rod complained. _"On top of that, everyone in the world are now calling me by such a ridiculous name as 'Shiny Rod'!"_

Ursula shushed. "Well, from the looks of it, the only thing changed about you is the fact that you are now an egotistical je-"

"Professor Ashura..." Akko, mispronouncing Ursula's name again, interrupted as she took note of something the professor just said. "You sound like you have known Shiny Rod as a sentient being for a long time..."

Ursula made a panicked gasp, while Shiny Rod made a sound that resembled a snicker.

"I'm...uh...terribly sorry for going off topic!" Ursula tried to dodge the question. "S-so, back on topic. Anything else about the Shiny Rod that you want to add?"

Akko, not smart enough to notice the professor's sloppy attempt at dodging the question, fell for it. "Well, there is the dream that I had before I woke up this morning..." She proceeded to explain - again, to the best of her ability - the dream in question...

"The Seven Stars of Jennifer the Great?" Ursula repeated that name after Akko had mentioned it.

"Chariot in that dream also mentioned what is called the 'first'." Akko added. "Professor, do you know something about it?"

Ursula is about to answer, but then stopped herself. "Can't say I do..." She said.

_"Liar."_ Shiny Rod whispered.

"Did you say something?" Akko noticed, and looked at the magic staff.

_"Nothing..."_ Shiny Rod denied.

"Really?" Akko wondered. In the process, she failed to noticed Ursula looking away nervously.

"I...might be able to find something if I do some research in the library first..." Ursula, still looking away from Akko, said.

"Or maybe we can just look it up on the internet?" Akko suggested.

"Well, I could try that some other time..." Ursula said. "Oh, and speaking of time, it sure flies by! We've been talking for almost an hour!"

"So, new thing I learned about Shiny Rod: she has an egotistical personality!" Akko stood up and summed up the conversation.

_"I'm not!"_ Shiny Rod argued. _"I just hate being called Shiny Rod!"_

"In that case, you should blame the Nines for giving you a name that's hard to pronounce." Ursula responded to Shiny Rod with a joke.

Shiny Rod could only respond to that with an exasperated groan.

"Thank you for inviting me over for a talk, professor!" Akko said as she picked up Shiny Rod. "I'm going to have lunch, so maybe we can talk again another time. Bye!"

With that, the Japanese girl excitedly ran out of the office with her idol's iconic magic staff in tow.

After watching Akko leaving her office, Ursula let out a sigh.

"Shiny Rod was right. Why Atsuko was chosen, only Woodward knows..." The blue-haired professor mused.

...

_"Is Claiomh Solais really so difficult to pronounce?!"_ Shiny Rod complained as Akko took it with her out of Ursula's office.

"Kurau...sorasu..." Akko tried, and struggled again to pronounce the Shiny Rod's real name. "Well, yes..."

_"That was a rhetoric question."_ Shiny Rod clarified.

"Whatever..." Akko then proceed to find her way to the cafeteria.

Unbeknownst to the Japanese girl, she had been followed all the way here, and had her entire conversation with Ursula eavesdropped upon by a certain cabbage-haired honor student.

"The legendary Claiomh Solais? But why? And why was it Kagari, not me, who was chosen to wield it?"

* * *

That's a good question, Diana. Why did Akko get the Shiny Rod instead of you? Of course, we as the readers already knew why Akko is worthy. But the real question is, why is Diana _not_ worthy? That's a question for another time.

Also, as you probably noticed, I've just changed the name of the story from _Luna Nova: School For Witches_ to _Atsuko Kagari and the School For Witches_, with the series as a whole renamed as the _Atsuko Kagari Series_. Why? Well, that's because I found _Luna Nova series_ to be a rather lame name, now that I think about it. It wasn't an issue when I came up with it months ago, but as time went by, I...well...

That, and just so I can get a _Harry Potter_ reference going...

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	11. Worthiness

**Luna Nova cafeteria**

"And that's what we talked about."

Akko summarized her conversation with Professor Ursula to her Coven mates over lunch.

Lotte blinked as she processed the small amount of details she just heard. Sucy, on the other hand, paid no attention as she ate her mushroom salad.

"So, what is the Seven Stars of Jennifer the Great, anyway?" Lotte asked.

"I don't know." Akko answered. "And neither does Professor Ashura."

"Sounds like the name of some legendary ancient artifact or magic spells..." Sucy commented in between bites of her lunch.

"Ancient? Does that mean Shiny Chariot was actually on a quest to collect the Stars?" Akko wondered. "If so, why?"

"I don't know." Lotte said. "Since the Shiny Rod can speak, why don't you ask it?" She then suggested.

"I'll try..." Akko said. "Hey, Shiny Rod, has Chariot been on a quest to collect the Seven Stars?"

_"I'm not answering that until you call me by my real name."_ Shiny Rod sulked.

"Wow..." Sucy remarked. "That thing sure has a...um...shitty personality for a sentient inanimate object..."

Whether Shiny Rod reacted to the pale Filipino's remark is impossible to tell due to it lacking a face to express with.

Akko could only roll her eyes at the Shiny Rod's response to her. "Now I wonder if Chariot intentionally dumped you for being so...self-conscious..."

"A self-conscious magic artifact? That's not something you hear about every day..." Lotte said.

_"I'm not self-conscious!"_ Shiny Rod responded. _"I am the legendary-"_

"Claiomh Solais, the Celtic Sword of Light." Someone interrupted as she approached the Red Coven.

The Red Coven girls turned toward the direction of the voice and saw the distinctive cabbage-hair of Diana Cavendish, with her icy blue eyes staring down at them as she has her arms crossed. Meanwhile, Hannah and Barbara stood behind the honor student, their ever smug face in full display for everyone to see.

Akko stared at Diana for a few seconds before turning back to Shiny Rod. "You're a sword?!" She whispered to it.

_"I admit that is a long story..."_ Shiny Rod answered awkwardly. The fact that everyone in the cafeteria, including the goblins manning the food counters, have stopped what they are doing and stared at the Red Coven made it even more awkward.

"And how did Diana know about you?!" Akko whispered another question.

_"That's a different long story..."_ Shiny Rod answered, again awkwardly.

"A clumsy idiot like you is unfitting to wield the Claiomh Solais." Diana interrupted again. She then extended her left hand toward Akko in a demanding way. "So give it to me."

Hearing that, Akko held Shiny Rod away from Diana's outstretched hand. "Weren't you badmouthing Chariot _right here_, just yesterday?"

"That doesn't matter." Diana said. "Give it to me. _Now_."

Both Lotte and Sucy, as well as everyone else in the cafeteria who were present during the situation with Chloe yesterday, looked on with disbelief. The honor student, the same one that insulted Shiny Chariot just the previous day, is currently demanding to possess the French performer's iconic staff, regardless of whether it turned out to be a legendary artifact that is possibly much older than every person currently alive in the world (or that it's even the real deal).

"You should listen to her, you Muggle-born." Hannah smugly told Akko.

"Yeah! I don't know why Diana wants your shiny staff, but she probably has a good reason for it!" Barbara smugly added.

"Like I said..." Diana emphasized. "Give the sword to me..."

Akko stood up, and defensively took several steps away from the Blue Coven. "Why are you, a Shiny Chariot hater, so desperate to get your hands on her iconic staff, anyway?!"

Diana, much to everyone's surprise, became impatient as she aggressively approached Akko. "Give. It. To. Me!" She demanded in a hostile tone as she reached out to snatch the Shiny Rod.

"No! Shiny Rod chose me, so it's mine!" Akko yelled at Diana as she tried to make a run for it.

However, Diana is pretty quick on her reflex, and was able to grab the Shiny Rod before Akko could take another step.

The honor student instantly retracted her hand the moment she touched the Shiny Rod, yelping and reeling back as she gets zapped by a noticeable discharge of static electricity from it.

"Diana!" Hannah and Barbara both cried out as they moved to tend to their leader.

Everyone are shocked at the sight of Diana Cavendish getting zapped by the Shiny Rod when Akko is completely unaffected by it.

"Akko, what did you do?" Lotte asked worriedly.

"I-it wasn't me! I swear!" Akko plead.

Hannah and Barbara both turned to Akko with a scowl on their face. "You bloody Muggle-born...!"

"Why...?" Diana, in total disbelief of the fact that Shiny Rod just zapped her. "Why am I not worthy of wielding the Claiomh Solais?!"

_"I'm so sorry, Descendant of Beatrix..."_ Shiny Rod apologetically told Diana. _"But you will never be worthy for as long as your inner conflict remains the way it is..."_

Diana stood there for a few seconds, trying to process what she was told before abruptly shoving Hannah and Barbara aside and storming out of the cafeteria.

"Diana!" Hannah and Barbara cried out as they gave chase to their leader.

After the departure of the Blue Coven, everyone in the cafeteria turned the focus of their attention onto Akko and the Shiny Rod.

Akko, unable to explain what had just happened, is left stuttering where she stood as everyone expected some kind of explanation from her.

...

**Fortune Telling class classroom**

After the whole fiasco at the cafeteria (again), the Red Coven quickly excused themselves from it without finishing their lunch, and went straight for the classroom where they will be having their first Fortune Telling class. It seems that Professor Ursula will be running a bit late...

Akko and the Shiny Rod had made themselves the subject of gossips from the other students in the class after what happened in the cafeteria. The gossips ranged from how Akko got the Shiny Rod and whether it is the genuine article, whether the Shiny Rod really is the legendary Claiomh Solais as Diana claimed, why Diana suddenly became so obsessed with it despite having badmouthed its previous owner just the previous day, why Shiny Rod refused to let Diana even touch it, and whether getting zapped by the Shiny Rod will teach Diana to not become a bully like how Hannah and Barbara is seemingly corrupting her into (though everyone became a bit worried about the implications of the last one).

The only person in the classroom who is outright laughing at the fiasco is one Chloe Dubois.

"Where is your prestigious honor now, Caven-_bitch_!" Chloe mocked Diana when the latter entered the classroom. "Oh, let me guess...Kagari of all people managed to take it all from you in a minute! Oh ho ho ho!"

"Shut up, Chloe!" Hannah countered.

Barbara is about to say something as well, but Diana raised a hand to silence her.

"That doesn't matter right now. We have class to attend to..." The honor student said. She has her usual stoic face up, but in this case it is rather obvious that she is trying to hide her emotions.

The Blue Coven then quietly made their way to their seats in the classroom.

Akko fixed her gaze on Diana, wondering if she should apologize to the honor student, even though it's not really her fault.

_"Staring at the Descendant of Beatrix won't change what has already happened..."_ Shiny Rod told Akko.

"It actually was _your_ fault." Akko whispered back. "Why did you have to attack Diana? Even if you're protecting me, that's still unnecessary! And why are you calling her the Descendant of Beatrix?"

_"Unfortunately, that is yet another long story..."_ Shiny Rod answered.

Akko sighed. "Just how many 'long stories' did you have, Shiny Rod?"

_"Enough to have an entire encyclopedia..."_ Shiny Rod answered. _"Or in the modern day equivalent, several Wikipedia pages..."_

The student seated behind Akko - a bespectacled German brunette by the name of Gaelle Muller - snickered upon hearing that.

Akko rolled her eyes at what she just heard. "You learned about the Internet from Chariot, did you?"

_"Yes. She even showed me how to use it..."_ Shiny Rod answered awkwardly. _"And I am ashamed to say that she has liked...um...weird things on Twitter..."_

Yet another snicker came from Gaelle, causing Akko to turn to face her. "Would you mind?"

Gaelle covered her mouth with her left hand and nodded in apology.

Akko then redirected her gaze back on Diana...

And quickly turned away upon noticing the honor student glaring at her.

_This is the weirdest first week of school I've ever had._ Akko thought to herself. _I wished the weekends could arrive sooner..._

The gossips stopped when Ursula entered the classroom in a hurry. The blue-haired professor quickly fell flat on her face, spilling the stack of books she is carrying onto the floor, before even reaching the desk at the front of the classroom, and one of the students in the classroom stifled a giggle at the sight.

Ursula let out a nervous laugh in regards to the student witches' first impression of her, as she climbed up from the floor. "My apologies for being late!" She said as she then picked up the books and put them on the desk. "I...uh, was new to this academy, and...uh, got lost on the way here..."

The entire class giggled in response to the professor's excuse, with the exception of Diana who either lacks any sense of humor or is still sour about getting zapped by the Shiny Rod earlier.

Ursula paused briefly to look at Akko and the Shiny Rod, then shifted her gaze to Diana. She appeared to be deep in thought about something.

Akko noticed Ursula gazing at her and Diana. She wondered if the professor had heard about what happened at the cafeteria...

"A-anyway, I am Professor Ursula Callistis, and I will be teaching you all there is to know about Fortune Telling..." Ursula then started the class as any professor would have. "So let us start with the concept of Fortune Telling. Can anyone give a brief description of what it is?"

As Fortune Telling class went its course, Akko found that she liked the subject more than she did the other subjects, as it is interesting and she doesn't have to smell any nasty fumes. Not only that, Professor Ursula isn't biased toward anyone, and is willing to provide assistance to Akko whenever she needed clarification on something.

All in all, the class went by without a hitch...

...

**Red Coven's dorm**

As the Red Coven don't have any more classes after Fortune Telling to attend for the rest of the day, they all quickly retreated back to their dormitory as they (or rather, Akko) don't want to risk getting into even more trouble with the Blue Coven, especially not after the whole fiasco at the cafeteria during the afternoon.

"Finally..." Akko huffed as she laid down on her bunk bed. "I don't have to step out of this room for the rest of the day..."

"Though what did Shiny Rod mean when it told Diana about her 'inner conflict'?" Lotte sitting down on the chair by the desk, wondered.

"Daddy issues, perhaps?" Sucy suggested.

"No matter what..." Akko said, as she removed Shiny Rod from her sash and held it in front of her face. "It was your fault, Shiny Rod. You didn't have to zap Diana like that, even if it was in self-defense!"

_"Unfortunately, I can't voluntarily choose whether or not to zap someone..."_ Shiny Rod responded.

"Why?"

_"Because I was created with the notion that those not deserving of even getting near the power of the Seven Stars cannot be allowed to lay their hands on me. To put it in modern terms, I am... programmed... to reject anyone with wicked, selfish thoughts, or those who couldn't let go of their inner conflicts..."_

"Diana doesn't look like the kind to be wicked or selfish... So just what is this 'inner conflict' of hers?"

_"I'm afraid it isn't that simple. It's not a 'long story', but not simple to explain either."_

"So, whatever this 'inner conflict' is, it's bad enough that you had to instinctively keep Diana away from you?"

_"If you put it that way, yes."_

Akko then lowered her hands, setting Shiny Rod down next to her on the bunk bed. "Whatever. I should apologize to Diana, and so should you." She added.

_"Perhaps..."_ Shiny Rod agreed.

"These talk about inner conflicts reminded me of Volume 123 of _Nightfall_, where..." Lotte mused about something.

"What is this 'night fall' you're talking about?" Sucy asked out of curiosity.

...

Indeed, the Red Coven remained in their dorm for the rest of the day, only briefly leaving to grab dinner at the cafeteria. When night fell, the girls neatly arranged their things before going to bed.

Akko fell asleep rather quickly, even though there hasn't been much happening in the day to get her tired. Sucy tried to stay up to perform potions experiments, but that plan fell short when her latest experiment resulted in her accidentally inhaling a puff of sleep potion vapor, causing her to fall asleep right there on the desk. Shiny Rod, as an inanimate object, doesn't really need to sleep, though it does have the patience to stay completely silent for an entire night (as demonstrated in the past week).

Only Lotte and her will-o-wisp familiar stayed awake. The Finnish girl is using her crystal ball to browse the internet while the little fire spirit provided light so its master can see the "screen" of the crystal ball. The webpage Lotte is browsing at the moment appears to be her Twitter feed.

_"Are you going to the _NightCon_ in Blytonbury tomorrow?"_ is what is currently displayed on the crystal ball, tweeted by a user named GreatBen810.

_"Yes, I am!"_ Lotte answered the tweet. She then followed it with _"What about you?"_

Seconds later, GreatBen810 tweeted back, _"Of course! I'm going to bloody make it no matter what!"_ In the five seconds it took Lotte to read the reply, another tweet quickly came from GreatBen810, saying _"Annabel Creme will be attending too! This is my best shot at meeting her in person!"_

Lotte glanced awkwardly at her familiar for how quickly GreatBen810 is able to type. "Maybe they're using a speech-to-text program or spell..." She hypothesized with a shrug.

_"I know, right?!"_ Lotte tweeted back.

_"Oh heavens! Look at the time! I should be catching some Zs already!"_ GreatBen810 tweeted. They then tweeted an emoji of a sleeping person before their status indicate they have logged off.

"They're right. It is getting late..." Lotte said with a yawn as she shut off the crystal ball.

The will-o-wisp retreated back to the skull-shaped lamp Lotte used to carry it around, where it promptly grew dimmer as it drifted off to sleep.

"Good night, Wispy..." Lotte said to the little fire spirit before taking off her glasses and going to sleep.

* * *

Woo, yeah! I am so glad to have posted this chapter after two months of hiatus! No thanks to getting too busy with IRL stuff!

Speaking of the hiatus, I'm so sorry about suddenly dropping off the radar without notice. I got really busy this time, and couldn't get enough time to do any updates to any one of my stories, not just this one. But now that I'm done with the stuff, updates will resume as usual.

So, uh, Diana is as unworthy of touching the Shiny Rod here as Croix in the anime is? You're probably wondering exactly what is going on. Well, that's a question for a later chapter...

As you've noticed, _Nightfall_ is coming up next, and Lotte seems pretty excited to go attend a convention centered on it. So what does that mean to the overall plot of this story? Read on to find out...

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._

IMPORTANT UPDATE: I also have a bad news for my FF Dot Net readers. The bad news is that when I had a new Wifi router installed in my house two days ago, the guy setting it up made a major screwup (he was apparently a rookie at the job), and now it has a faulty DNS that prevented me from accessing FF Dot Net without a VPN. And since this VPN is a trial run that is set to expire tomorrow, that means I may not be able to visit FF Dot Net and thus update this story for an indefinite amount of time. So yeah, don't be surprised if thiis chapter is the last one posted here. However, the Archive Of Our Own version can still be updated as normal, so you can continue reading this story there.


	12. Saturday Is Alright (For Bickering)

**Red Coven's dorm**

No dreams about Shiny Chariot this time (it was instead about potatoes and cabbages), but Akko woke up early anyway because today is her first ever Saturday in Luna Nova, and she is excited about finally being able to leave the academy campus and explore Blytonbury.

The first thing Akko noticed when she woke up is Sucy massaging her neck while complaining about how it was sore - apparently having spent the whole night sleeping at the desk - and reminding herself that she should wear a gas mask next time she experiments with anything that induces sleep. Akko is of course confused why the pale Filipino would say that, though the lab equipment at the desk that wasn't packed up narrows down the possible answers.

Lotte, on the other hand, appears to be packing up a shopping bag and is wearing what looked like a Red Riding Hood costume.

"Lotte, what are you doing?" Akko asked out of curiosity.

"I'm preparing for the _NightCon_ in the town." Lotte answered without looking away from what she is doing.

"_NightCon_?" Akko wondered out loud what Lotte meant.

"Does it have something to do with the _Nightfall_ thing you mentioned last night?" Sucy also wondered out loud.

Lotte momentarily looked away from her shopping bag. "Don't you guys know what _Nightfall_ is?"

"No..." Sucy answered indifferently.

"Sounds familiar, but I don't know..." Akko answered apologetically.

"HOW COULD YOU?!" Lotte suddenly exclaimed loudly, her voice an assault on Akko and Sucy's ears. "_Nightfall_ is the third most popular franchise in the world! It started as a novel published in 1872, and it was loved enough that the author, a witch called Annabel Creme, wrote a sequel, and another, and another...365 sequels have been published ever since!

"That...is a _long_ runner..." Sucy commented.

"What is it about, anyway?" Akko asked.

"_Nightfall_ is about a schoolteacher called Belle, who meets a handsome man called Edgar. Edgar reveals one day that he's actually a vampire, but Belle says she doesn't mind. And later, Edgar's rival, a werewolf called Arthur, shows up, and everything goes downhill from there..." Lotte described. "But while the first book is just a straight up fantasy romance, it started to explore all sorts of genre including but not limited to: mystery, thriller, action, sci-fi, espionage, and more!"

Akko and Sucy both blinked in reaction.

"But _Nightfall_ didn't limit itself to being a series of novels! It also got adapted into theater plays, musicals, movies, TV series, graphic novels, and even video games!" Lotte continued. "And new contents are still being released every year, with Volume 366 of the novels being unveiled at _Nightcon_ today!"

Akko and Sucy then turned to each other in reaction to what they just heard.

"I wouldn't touch this...abomination of a franchise...with a ten kilometer pole..." Sucy remarked.

Akko responded with a silent nod.

_"What has the concept of fiction become..."_ Shiny Rod muttered upon hearing Lotte's description of _Nightfall_.

...

**Luna Nova campus entrance**

As expected, almost every student in Luna Nova have gathered at the campus entrance, waiting for Headmistress Holbrooke to open the main gate. Some are still wearing their Luna Nova uniforms, while others have changed into casual clothes.

The headmistress has a speech to give before she would open the gate and let everyone out. And just like the matriculation ceremony, she has a _lot_ of things to say in her speech (thankfully it isn't nearly as long as the last one).

"...And so, with all that in mind, have a happy weekend, ladies." Headmistress Holbrooke finished her 30 minutes speech. Then with a gentle tap of her staff on the ground, the main gate opened behind her, revealing a Leyline Tunnel that leads out of Luna Nova and into Blytonbury.

"Now remember, everyone!" Professor Nelson, who stood beside Headmistress Holbrooke, reminded, punctuating her sentences like a military drill sergeant. "Don't do anything stupid in the town, and be back by 5 PM, or else you're getting detentions!"

All the students stood where they are, and those who are already in the process of crossing the gate on their flying brooms stopped mid-tracks.

"From Finneran!" Professor Nelson clarified.

The students stay paused for a few more seconds before continuing on their way.

"Everyone looked like they were desperate to step out of campus." Akko, having decided to leave Shiny Rod behind in the dorm, commented on the number of students that are leaving campus grounds for the day.

"After being stuck here for five days, most of us would." Lotte explained. "Though a handful do prefer to stay on campus for their own reason."

"Well, I just wanted to go explore the town and maybe meet my parents one last time before they go back to Japan." Akko said. "What about you, Sucy?"

"I'm just going to look for mushrooms and poisonous bugs in town." Sucy answered nonchalantly.

Akko didn't comment on that. She has already gotten used to the pale Filipino's nonchalant attitude and fondness for foul-smelling things. She looked around to see if there's anyone else nearby that she recognizes, catching glimpse of the Purple Coven flying past on their brooms.

"So I'll 'F' Hemsworth, marry Evans, and kill Pratt." Mary told her coven mates in a conversation, apparently about the actors of movies that she watched.

"Why do you want to 'kill Pratt'?" Avery asked her friend. "Was it because of what he did in _Infinity War_?"

"Personally, I'll marry all three of them~" Blair says as she...appeared to start daydreaming about something...

Akko looked away from the Purple Coven after that. Whatever Blair is daydreaming about, Akko wished she could cast a memory erasing spell on herself to erase the imagery...

"Is there anyone else in Luna Nova who likes _Nightfall_?" Akko, diverting her attention from the Purple Coven, asked Lotte.

Lotte touched her chin. "Nobody..." She said. "At least, as far as I kn-"

The Finnish girl stopped mid-sentence all of a sudden, as she took several steps back and worriedly held her broom upright in front of her, as if trying to hide behind it.

Akko knew right away what is coming upon seeing Lotte's behavior...

"Hey, Little Lotte~" Came Hannah's voice in a mocking tone.

"Going to the _Nightcon_, I see~?" Barbara joined her friend in the mocking.

"Don't you two have something else to do?" Akko, annoyed by the mere thought of those two from the Blue Coven, asked as she turned to face them.

"We are~" "That's why we dressed for the occasion~" Hannah and Barbara said, the latter finishing the former's sentence.

Indeed, the two Blue Coven girls are dressed in fancy, _really_ expensive-looking clothes, most notably the pink cardigans.

"What is with that get up?" Akko asked, cringing at just how much bling the two are showing off.

"Well, today's a Saturday," "And in Saturdays, we wear pink~" Hannah and Barbara casually answered, then let out the kind of laugh that spoiled rich girls usually makes.

Akko pouted, as she held back the urge to just up and punch the snooty duo.

"Where is Diana, anyway?" Akko brought up. "Don't you two like to hang out with her?"

As soon as Diana's name is mentioned, Hannah and Barbara's expressions both went sour.

"Don't you dare speak about her!" Hannah attacked.

"Especially not after what you did yesterday!" Barbara reminded.

Akko herself went sour upon being reminded that. _I need to have a talk with Shiny Rod when I come back..._ She reminded herself.

"Did someone inquire about my presence?" Diana asked as she suddenly appeared, and joined Hannah and Barbara. She is still in her Luna Nova uniform.

"Oh, nothing." Hannah told Diana.

"We're just saying hi to the Red Coven." Barbara added.

Diana eyed how Lotte behaved at the moment, specifically how her arrival at the scene caused the Finnish girl to take several steps back out of fear of something.

"Really?" Diana asked in an interrogative way. She appeared to not have bought what her coven mates just told her.

The heiress then looked at Akko, which quickly turned into a glare for reasons that Akko can tell right away.

Akko also noticed that Diana's left hand, which is her dominant hand, is barely moving at all, as though it has gone numb.

"I'm so sorry about what Shiny Rod did to you..." Akko apologized to Diana. "I wasn't expecting her to react that way to you. I swear..."

Diana continued to glare at Akko for a few more seconds, massaging her numb left hand with her right, before breaking off the glare. "I suppose it is normal for an item to behave like its dumb own-"

"Whassup, Cabbage!" Greeted Amanda loudly as she along with Constanze and Jasminka approached the Red and Blue Covens on their brooms.

Jasminka sat side-saddle on her broom (which isn't that unusual for a witch) while eating out of a bag of potato crisps. Constanze, on the other hand, sat on something that looks less like a broom and more like a futuristic hoverbike (complete with a holographic interface in place of a normal bike's dashboard) built around a broom.

Diana turned her attention to Amanda. "Don't. Call. Me. That." She said while gritting her teeth. "And what is that _indecent_ outfit you are wearing?!"

"Oh, this?" Amanda gestured at the clothes. she is wearing right now, which consisted of an unzipped black bomber jacket over a t-shirt that is small enough to leave her midriff exposed, along with a pair of ripped jeans. "It's the latest trend in the US. You should go give it a try, princess."

Diana didn't reply. She just furrowed her eyebrows before turning away.

"Hannah, Barbara, you two do what you want in the town." Diana told her coven mates. "I have some things to do there..."

Saying that, the heiress then mounted on her broom, and flew off, disappearing into the Leyline Tunnel.

"Hey, Cabbage!" Amanda called out to Diana, not expecting a reply due to how far the heiress has already gone. "What's with the British accent? I thought you were Scottish!"

"Who cares if Diana's Scottish?" Hannah scoffed.

"If she wants to speak with a British accent, it's her choice!" Barbara also scoffed.

"We should stop wasting our time with these losers, Barbs!" Hannah told her friend.

"Yeah, right!" Barbara agreed.

With that, the duo mounted their brooms and took off.

"Oh, by the way, _Kagari_..." Barbara suddenly directed at Akko. "vous êtes un morceau de merde, vous le savez?" She told her something in French.

Akko raised her eyebrows upon hearing that. "What did you say?"

Barbara leaned close to Hannah. "Hannah, tu veux bien traduire ce que je viens de dire pour ces ordures ?" She asked a question in a sarcastic tone.

"Désolé, mais c'est trop vulgaire pour moi." Hannah answered, also in a sarcastic tone.

The Blue Coven duo then let out another "spoiled rich girl" laugh after saying what they just said.

Akko glanced at Lotte who is still too overcome by her fear of Hannah and Barbara to do anything, then at Sucy who just shrugged.

"Forget them. Let's go, guys." Akko told her friends as she dragged Lotte toward the Leyline Tunnel, with Sucy following right behind. The three of them then mounted on their brooms.

"That's right, losers~" "Run like you should~" Hannah and Barbara mocked the Red Coven at where they stood.

Just before entering the Leyline Tunnel, Akko turned around on her barely-off-the-ground flying broom, with a smirk on her face.

"By the way, I did understand what you two just said..." She told Hannah and Barbara smugly. "C'est peut-être pour ça que vous devriez manger tout droit sorti des toilettes." The Japanese girl verbally retaliated in a surprisingly fluent French. "On se voit des crétins plus tard."

With that, the Red Coven departed from Luna Nova as they entered the Leyline Tunnel.

Hannah and Barbara stood where they are, frozen stiff by the fact that their bilingual insult against Akko backfired so horribly.

"Translation: eat shit, bitches!" Amanda mocked the duo just before she and her coven mates also departed from the scene.

Hannah and Barbara remained frozen where they stood. Meanwhile, Chloe who had overheard the entire conversation between the Red, Blue and Green Covens rolled on the ground, laughing loudly at what she just witnessed, while her coven mates gave Hannah and Barbara a shrug each.

...

**Inside the Leyline Tunnel...**

"Say, Akko..." Sucy asked the Japanese girl out of curiosity. "I didn't know you spoke French..."

"That's because I wanted to meet Shiny Chariot in person one day, and surprise her by showing just how much of a Chariot fan I am." Akko answered.

* * *

Hannah and Barbara, get rekt!

Okay, so I was not able to post this chapter before 2020 begins. Well, that sucks for me in a personal way...

Hmm, I wonder what Diana was doing that led to her left hand getting numb... Speaking of which, Diana being left-handed is just a random thought that I have. It does not foreshadow anything about the plot or her background, so you can just ignore it.

Also, you'd probably laugh your asses off if you understand what Hannah, Barbara, and Akko said in French. Admittedly they might not be grammatically correct, since I don't speak a lick of French either...

With that, I'd like to say this:

HAPPY 2020!

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic."

_Afterwords end here._

**NOTE: This chapter is first posted on AO3 on January 1st, 2020. I just so happened to be able to access Fanfiction Dot Net again for some reason, so I figured I might as well get this chapter posted before I lose access again.**


	13. NightFall

**Blytonbury**

Upon arriving at Blytonbury, the Red Coven are greeted by the sight of a sea of people, many of whom are dressed in _Nightfall_ cosplay. Posters of the _Nightcon_ are hung on every lampposts in the town. The chatter from the crowd is almost nothing but discussions about _Nightfall_ and it's author, Annabel Creme, who apparently will be showing up in person today.

"Is this all... _Nightfall_?" Akko wondered as she observed the ever growing crowd. "You were not joking when you said it was the second most-"

"Look! That's the huntsman who saved Belle from a bear in Volume 80 of the novels!" Lotte said excitedly while pointing at a _Nightfall_ cosplayer. "That's the elf princess from novel Volume 113! And that's the reanimated skeleton of a British redcoat from novel Volume 152!" The Finnish girl continued as she pointed out more cosplays that she recognized. "That's the time travelling assassin from the 24th century that Edgar fought in novel volume 301! And the prototype android from Issue 52 of the graphic novels! Arthur's ancestor from Season 13 of the TV series! The unnamed final boss of the _Nightfall Adventures_ video game! That girl's holding a replica of the legendary shoehorn from _Nightfall Online_!" Lotte easily identified every cosplay that she pointed out, and may probably keep doing so if not stopped...

"What. Is. _Nightfall_?" Akko stuttered as her brain struggled to process what she just heard.

"I think the better question would be: 'What _isn't_ _Nightfall_?'" Sucy also struggled to process the same bits of information.

...

"Seriously, there's so many people here I could barely walk!"

Hannah complained as she struggled to squeeze through the crowd.

"Seriously, _Nightfall_? What kind of moron reads that bloody piece of shit?!" The auburn-haired witch added.

"Didn't you just refuse to translate my French earlier for being 'too vulgar'?" Barbara pointed out to her friend.

"I was being sarcastic to that idiot, Kagari!" Hannah said back. "Who'd ever expected her to actually speak French?!"

"She's a Shiny Chariot fangirl, and Chariot is French." Barbara pointed out again. "Do the bloody math."

Hannah narrowed her eyebrows. "Gosh, has O'Neil rubbed off of you?"

The Blue Coven duo continued to push their way through the crowd of _Nightfall_ fans until they reached the town square, where the crowd seems to be headed.

"Look at this!" Hannah pointed all around the town square and complained again. "They even have a convention! I can't believe that stupid book can be popular enough to warrant all this!"

"Actually, _Nightfall_ also has graphic novels, TV series, video games..." Barbara muttered.

"What was that, Barbs?" Hannah heard Barbara's muttering, and asked.

"Nothing." Barbara denied. "Speaking of, maybe we could go to the town auditorium and, uh, heckle the convention?"

"Heckle?" Hannah rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"To, uh, disapprove of _Nightfall_. Yes, disapprove." Barbara explained nervously.

...

**Blytonbury Town Auditorium**

Lotte, upon noticing the _Nightcon_ banners hung above the town auditorium, excitedly pointed them out to Akko and Sucy before dragging the both of them toward the building.

The inside of the town auditorium is jam-packed with rows upon rows of _Nightfall_ fans, both in and out of cosplay. Almost all of them are holding something related to _Nightfall_ \- from official installments of the franchise to merchandise and concept art books.

Akko had always believed that nothing could possibly be more popular than Shiny Chariot. But now she found herself proven wrong. _Nightfall_ could very well make Chariot green with envy. The Japanese girl wondered why she hasn't heard of _Nightfall_ before in Japan if it was this popular...

"Lotte, you said _Nightfall_ was created by this witch called, uh, Kurimu, right?" Akko asked, again having the name mangled by her Japanese accent.

"It's Annabel Creme." Lotte corrected. "And ever since she started it in 1872, she hasn't stopped churning out new sequels, and even spin-offs in other mediums such as-"

Sucy quickly put her hand on the Finnish girl's mouth before she could continue. "Yes, you told us that earlier." She reminded. "Now, why are we here again?"

Lotte removed Sucy's hand from her mouth. "This is the first time Annabel Creme is appearing in person! She has never done this before, and everyone who loves _Nightfall_ came here today just so they can have a shot at getting her autograph along with Novel Volume 366!" She excitedly explained.

Just then, all the lights in the auditorium went out.

"It's starting! Quick, find a place to sit!" Lotte told her coven mates, as they all went to look for empty seats in the auditorium.

Despite the tightly packed venue, it didn't take long for the Red Coven to find three empty seats, just in time for the beginning of the event.

Soon, some of the spotlights in the auditorium turned on, shining their lights upon a sharply dressed man standing on the stage, behind a microphone. He is presumably the announcer of the event.

"Ladies and gentlemen, including those of you who are not human, welcome to the 11th annual _Nightcon_, the one and only fan convention for all things related to the _Nightfall_ franchise!" The announcer greeted the entire audience, who all responded with a cacophony of loud cheers. "Today also happens to be the 147th anniversary of _Nightfall_! And to commemorate that, we have brought along a special guest star! A _very_ special guest star, if you may!"

The entire audience started chanting "Annabel Creme!" all at once, except Lotte, who looked on excitedly with her eyes practically gleaming.

"Ladies and gentlemen, including those of you who are not human..." The announcer grabbed everyone's attention. "May I present to you, the one and only, creator of the _Nightfall_ franchise for the past 147 years..." He then turned to his right, pointing a hand at someone standing in an unlit part of the stage. "Annabel Creme!"

More spotlights turned on to reveal who is standing on that spot: a girl of about 15 - 16 years old with long blonde hair, wearing a pair of headphones as she stared disinterestedly at her smartphone.

The audience went ballistic upon the reveal of the blonde girl.

"She's so cute~!" Lotte uttered in excitement and awe.

"That's Annabel?" Akko wondered.

"She looks a bit on the young side..." Sucy pointed out.

The girl called Annabel began to slowly shuffle her way toward a fancy chair that is placed to the announcer's left, and then sat down on it, all without tearing her eyes away from her smartphone.

"So, Annabel, got a word for your sincerest fans?" The announcer asked the blonde girl as he brought his microphone close to her.

Annabel briefly looked up to say "Hello..." in a disinterested tone before turning back to her smartphone.

It appears that the announcer didn't expect Annabel's response to be this short. "Uh, is that it?" He asked the blonde girl.

"What? You asked for 'a word', didn't you?" Annabel said in an annoyed tone while she kept her eyes fixed on her smartphone.

"Wow, she's pretty rude." Akko commented.

The announcer stood there with an "uh..." before bringing his microphone back to his mouth. "Well, there you have, folks! A meet-and-greet from Annabel Creme herself!" He said to the audience. "Now let us get to the main event, shall we?" He then took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket, and unfolded it. "As you all are all aware, for this year's _Nightcon_, we will be holding a quiz for the lore of the entire _Nightfall_ franchise, ranging from the obvious to the obscure! And whoever can answer the most questions correctly will receive a special gift from Annabel Creme herself!"

The audience cheered loudly upon hearing that. Meanwhile, Annabel smirked as though she has something planned.

"The rules are simple: all questions are First-Come-First-Serve! So if you want to get the highest score possible, make sure you can get my attention first for each question, and then answer them correctly! Be warned: spoiler alert for the _entire_ franchise!" The announcer explained. He coughed a bit before starting to read from the paper. "Question One: What time is the Great Ben clock tower showing when Belle first met Arthur in Novel Volume 1? Be sure to specify if its AM or PM."

The audience murmured among each other. Apparently this is a very hard question, and it is just the _first_...

"You! The girl in the Red Riding Belle cosplay!" The announcer pointed at Lotte as one of the spotlights shone on her. "What's your answer?"

"12:34 AM!" Lotte shouted her answer.

The announcer looked at the paper to confirm the answer. "Correct! One point to this young lady!" He announced. "Question Two: Which actor portrayed Arthur in the first ever _Nightfall_ movie, released in 2006?"

"Tom Holland!" Someone in the audience shouted his answer.

"Sorry, wrong! That's actually a different Tom!" The announcer said. "Anyone else?"

Lotte raised her hand, catching the announcer's attention again. "Tom Hardy!"

"Correct! Another point for this young lady!" The announcer declared before going to the next question. "Alright. Question Three: In the _Nightfall_ TV series, all the brand names seen in episodes set in the present day are real brands, with the exception of _one_, which is a completely fictional one. In which episode is that fictional brand seen?"

Lotte raised her hand as with the previous two questions. But someone else is able to draw the announcer's attention better than her this time.

"You! The, uh, one in the Great Ben costume? That's the weirdest cosplay I've ever seen..." The announcer said as he pointed at someone dressed up as a clock tower. "Anyway, what's your answer?"

"Season one, episode seven! '_Orange Submariner_'!" The Great Ben cosplayer answered.

"Correct! One point for the lady in the Great Ben costume!" The announcer said.

The Great Ben cosplayer cheered as she raised a fist into the air.

"Onto Question Four: What is the surname of the family that Belle, Arthur, and Edgar saved from the Category 8 hurricane in Issue 13 of the graphic novels?"

Meanwhile, several rows behind the Red Coven, Barbara slowly and meekly raised her hand amidst a crowd of other people who did the same.

"Why are you raising your hand?" Hannah, who sat next to Barbara, asked her friend. "Are you bloody seriously considering to answer _that_?"

Barbara quickly lowered her hand. "No! I, uh, am just stretching my hand!"

...

"Question 15: What is the weapon that Arthur used to take out the advancing horde of zombie cyborgs in novel Volume 284?"

"A M163 Vulcan loaded with depleted uranium shells!"

"Question 32: Ignoring the upcoming novel Volume 366, which historical figure has _not_ appeared at any point in the franchise as of today?"

"Adolf Hitler!"

"Question 68: In the _Nightfall Mystery_ mobile game, what is the minor detail that allowed Arthur and Edgar to distinguish the fake Belle from the real one?"

"The fake Belle spelled 'defense' with an S instead of 'defence' with a C!"

"Question 104..."

"Di-hydrogen Trioxide!"

"Question 142..."

"Reykjavik, Iceland!"

"Question 178... Question 185... Question 199... Question 234... Question 249..."

That actually is a lot of questions about the lore of _Nightfall_, and it took nearly two hours until the announcer went through all 250 of them ("That is a lot!" Akko exclaimed).

Of course, the quiz quickly turned into a competition between Lotte and the Great Ben cosplayer, as the two answered one question after another. At about Question 100, the two have attained such high scores that the rest of the audience saw no more point in answering the questions themselves, and resorted to just watching the rest of the quiz unfold.

By the time all 250 questions have been answered, Lotte and the Great Ben cosplayer are neck-to-neck with both of them having scored 125 points each in the quiz. The announcer declared that the prize cannot be split, and as such, a tiebreaker is set in place to determined who will be the winner.

For the tiebreaker round, Lotte and the Great Ben cosplayer are both called onto the stage to stand behind specially prepared podiums (both fans wondered where the podiums had come from, as they weren't there when the quiz began).

"Alright, you two! The questions in the tiebreaker round are also on a First-Come-First-Serve basis!" The announcer told Lotte and the Great Ben cosplayer. "If both of you gives the wrong answer to the questions, the tiebreaker round will keep going until one of you gives the right answer!"

In the meantime, the Great Ben cosplayer leaned slightly toward Lotte and asked her, "Psst, hey, young lady. Is your Twitter handle FriskyFinn69?"

Lotte was surprised by that question. "How do you know? Are you GreatBen810?" She asked.

The conversation is short-lived as the announcer grabbed both fans' attention.

"Are you two ready?" The announcer asked them.

The Great Ben cosplayer answered "Of course!"

Lotte paused for a bit as she looked at Akko who is cheering for her from among the audience.

"You can do it, Lotte!" Akko cheered on for her coven mate.

Lotte then turned toward the announcer and nodded.

"Alright, then! Here's the first tiebreaker question..." The announcer said as he unfolded another piece of paper. "In the town where Belle grew up, there is a bakery own by a kind old lady who lives not too far away from the Great Ben clock tower where Belle lives. That old lady has a neighbor likes to take care of her flowers..."

The announcer is interrupted by the sound of a buzzer being pressed.

"That neighbor's name is Sefeia!" The Great Ben cosplayer gave out her answer.

"Wow, that was quick!" The announcer said. "Unfortunately, that answer is _not even close_ to the question, which I haven't even finished yet! So sorry, Great Ben!"

Saying that, a big red cross appeared on the Great Ben cosplayer's podium, causing her to sigh in defeat.

"As I was saying, that old lady has a neighbor who likes to take care of her flowers, and she has many flower vases in her garden." The announcer continued with the rest of the question. "And no two of those vases have the same variety of flowers as the others. What is the flower in the third vase of the second row at the eastern side of the garden?"

As the Great Ben cosplayer lost the chance to answer that because of her impetuousness earlier, it is up to Lotte to answer this question. However, Lotte is stumped, as she racked her brain trying to find the correct answer.

_Not roses. Not hibiscus. Definitely not snapdragons._ Lotte thought to herself. _What could it be? I can only remember that it was Annabel's favorite flower too..._

As Lotte continued to search her vast knowledge of _Nightfall_ lore for answers, she momentarily glanced at Annabel Creme, who is still sat on the fancy chair, totally engrossed in her smartphone.

The Finnish girl noticed what is on the cover of the author's smartphone.

_That's it!_ Lotte gleefully thought as she finally got the answer she needed.

With that, she slammed her hand down on the buzzer on her podium, grabbing the announcer's attention.

"Hydrangeas!" She loudly shouted her answer.

The announcer took a second to read from the piece of paper before declaring, "Correct! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!"

The auditorium is swiftly drowned in the loud applaud of the audience.

"Way to go, Lotte!" Akko loudly cheered for her coven mate.

"You did well, young lady. I accept my defeat." The Great Ben cosplayer told Lotte.

"And now, as promised..." The announcer announced. "The winner of this quiz will be receiving a special gift from Annabel Creme herself!"

Lotte stepped away from her podium, then froze in the center of the stage due to stage fright. At the same time, Annabel stood up from her fancy chair, still engrossed in her smartphone, and slowly made her way across the stage. It was only upon reaching Lotte did the author put her smartphone away and took something else out of her sleeve.

It appears to be a very fancy fountain pen.

Annabel presented the fountain pen to Lotte. "You must really love _Nightfall_..." The author commented. "This is the pen given to me to write _Nightfall_. It is yours now..." She then handed Lotte the pen.

Lotte had doubts about why Annabel sounded so eager to give the pen to someone else, but nevertheless reached for and grabbed it.

As Lotte's fingers touched the pen, Annabel's lips formed a smirk that didn't seem so friendly. "I hope you won't be missing your real name..." Saying that, the author released her grip on the pen.

At the same time, Akko suddenly experienced a headache as she massaged her head with her hand.

"What's wrong, Akko?" Sucy asked indifferently.

"I don't know..." Akko answered. "It was like I just got zapped in the head by something..."

On the stage, a confused Lotte stared at Annabel, wondering what the author meant by that.

"From now on, you should be able to write your own _Nightfall_ stories..." Annabel, still smirking, told Lotte. "I'm sorry it had to be this way, though..."

With that said, Annabel suddenly vanished in a beam of light, presumably having teleported away.

Lotte is left standing where she is, as she stared at where Annabel stood just a second ago, and wondered about what the author told her.

_"I hope you won't be missing your real name... I'm sorry it had to be this way, though..."_

"Well, that was abrupt!" The announcer said. "What a twist, the way the winner of this quiz left just like that! Just like _Nightfall_!"

Lotte blinked. Did the announcer just refer to Annabel as "the winner of this quiz"?

At that moment, Akko and Sucy joined Lotte on the stage.

"Way to go! You blew through the quiz just like that!" Akko congratulated Lotte with a pat to her back.

"I officially declare _Nightfall_ to be the strangest work of fiction, ever..." Sucy commented. She then placed a hand on Lotte's shoulder. "And some fan she was, Annabel..."

Lotte giggled at Sucy calling _Nightfall_ the strangest work of fiction ever...only to stop herself upon realizing that Sucy just called _her_ Annabel...

"Sucy, what did you just call me?" Lotte asked the pale Filipino.

"That's your name, isn't it?" Sucy answered indifferently. "Annabel Creme?"

Akko, who looks confused as to why Sucy said that, stepped forward. "Sucy, why are you calling Annabel tha-" The Japanese girl stopped herself instantly, putting a hand to her mouth, upon realizing what she just did.

She too called Lotte _Annabel_...

An extremely confused "何?!" came out of Akko's lips.

Lotte didn't even need to understand Japanese to know what Akko just uttered, because she too is asking the exact same question.

_What?!_

* * *

Well, I got carried away, and made this chapter extra long...

As you can see, I've made _Nightfall_ even _crazier_ here than it was in canon. Here, it doesn't just exist in novel form, it also comes in graphic novels, movies, TV series, video games (including both microtransactions-filled mobile games and MMOs), etc. Surely, Annabel Creme must be swimming in money thanks to how massive _Nightfall_ is? (Fun fact: I'd say that the _Nightfall_ franchise is so big that it make _Star Wars_ look tiny in comparison)

Speaking of Annabel Creme... well, it's kind of difficult to explain what is going on here with words. You'd just have to wait until the next chapter to get it explained...

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._

**NOTE: So having a vacation in another country where FF Dot Net isn't banned meant that I can use the opportunity to post chapters that I've posted to AO3 but not here...**


	14. The Curse of Annabel Creme

**Blytonbury town auditorium**

"Annabel, is it true that you have been writing _Nightfall_ for 147 years?"

"Annabel, what is your favorite installment of _Nightfall_?"

"Annabel, what future plans do you have for _Nightfall_?"

"Annabel, can I have your autograph?"

"Annabel, what are your opinions about the rival franchise, _Spell Cast_?"

"Annabel, what was the gift that you just gave to the winner of the quiz?"

Most of the _Nightfall_ fans in the auditorium swarmed up the stage toward the author of their favorite franchise to ask her some question the first chance they get.

There is however, a slight problem with exactly what they are doing...

That is _not_ Annabel Creme they're swarming upon.

Lotte became terrified of the crowd of fans that are swarming up to her, not just because of their numbers...

But also because of the fact that _all of them_ are calling _her_ Annabel.

Lotte, along with Akko and Sucy, have no idea what exactly is going on. But they do know that they need to get away from the mob of rabid _Nightfall_ fans as quickly as possible.

"Sucy, do something!" Akko panicked over the increasingly thick mob.

"I was going to." Sucy said indifferently as she took a flask out from _somewhere_ in her robes. Upon being uncorked, the flask released a thick smokescreen that briefly blinded the mob, allowing the Red Coven to get away.

...

"What was that all about?"

Hannah looked at the stage in confusion, immediately before a smokescreen erupted from the middle of it and blinded the rabid fans up there.

"A fan beat another fan in the _Nightfall_ quiz, and got a present from Annabel Creme herself." Barbara recapped the events. "Then the winning fan literally disappeared into thin air. And then everyone started swarming the stage in order to have a face-to-face meeting with Annabel."

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Really? I still don't see how a piece of crap like _Nightfall_ can become so popular. Come on, Barbs, we're leaving..."

...

**Blytonbury**

The Red Coven quickly got away from the mob thanks to Sucy's smokescreen potion, and emerged from the back entrance of the town auditorium.

"What was that?!" Akko asked Lotte out of utter confusion. "Annabel, wha-" She stopped herself again upon realizing that she just did it again. "What is going on?! Why am I calling you Annabel?! I'm not supposed to be calling you Annabel! Why can't I say your _real_ name?!"

"I don't know!" Lotte said, panicking over what had just happened to her. "My name is not supposed to be Annabel Creme! It was supposed to be-" The Finnish girl tried saying her real name, but found that something is preventing her from even uttering the first syllable. "W-why can't I say my real name?! What is going on?!"

"What are you two so worked out for?" Sucy wondered out loud, still being indifferent about the situation. "Nice fountain pen, by the way."

Speaking of the fountain pen, Lotte realized that she is still holding on to it. She and Akko turned their attention onto it.

"What is going on with this pen?" Akko wondered. "It all happened the moment you touched it, Annabel..."

"Oh, look..." Sucy suddenly said as she pointed elsewhere. "There's your biggest fan, Annabel. I guess she still wants to gawk at you a bit more..."

Akko and Lotte turned toward where Sucy is pointing, and saw Annabel Creme - the real one - standing there in the middle of the street, observing the Red Coven.

Annabel turned and walked away almost immediately after the Red Coven noticed her.

"Hey, you!" Akko impetuously - and furiously - chased after Annabel.

The writer isn't even trying to run, so the Japanese girl caught up with her very quickly.

"What did you do to Anna- What did you do to my friend?!" Akko furiously interrogated Annabel, even pulling her wand out and pointing it at the author in a threatening way.

Annabel paused for a bit. She then responded without turning around, "So your memory is not affected by the Curse of Annabel Creme..."

"The Curse of... Is that what is going on?!" Akko continued her interrogation.

"If you put it that way, yes." Annabel answered straightforwardly.

Lotte quickly caught up with Akko.

"Annabel, it turns out she put you under a curse!" Akko told Lotte, then cringed at the fact that she just got forced by reality itself to call her friend by someone else's name.

"Actually, I just passed it on to your friend..." Annabel corrected Akko. "You see, I was a victim of that blasted curse myself. And now I'm finally free of it."

"Are you actually... gloating?" Akko felt disgusted by what she just heard.

"Maybe..." Annabel answered with a nonchalant shrug. "Anyway, Annabel Creme was never a person, or even a pseudonym. The curse _is_ Annabel Creme, and I became a victim of it ever since I inherited this... _thing_-" She then pointed at the fountain pen in Lotte's grasp. "from its previous owner, the previous Annabel Creme, who probably inherited it from the one before her, and so on..."

Akko interrupted Annabel's spiel by touching the tip of her wand against the writer's chin. "Why? People loved you and your work, so why are you dumping it all on Anna- on my friend?"

Annabel, with a swift motion, grabbed Akko's wand, and then snapped its tip off with her bare hands. "I sacrificed a lot just to become Annabel Creme..." She explained as she dropped the severed tip of Akko's wand on the pavement. "But looking back at what my life has become, I regretted making all those sacrifices..."

"Your sacrifice...?" Akko and Lotte repeated what they just heard.

Annabel then took several steps back. "I'm sorry for the young lady whose identity that Annabel Creme just overwrote." As she said that, a magical glow just like the ones that preceded her teleportation earlier enveloped her again. "Good bye, my number one fan. I hope you enjoy your prize as the next Annabel Creme. From your former idol figure, Mary-Ann Lait..."

For a split second after she finished her speech, the former writer can be seem smiling before she teleported away to who-knows-where.

Akko and Lotte both stood where they are, trying to process such a dramatic turn of events, and the exact meaning of what Annabel - the previous one - just said.

"So, what did I miss?" Sucy asked nonchalantly as she joined Akko and Lotte, while holding a mushroom that she found under a dumpster in a back alley.

...

After their confrontation with Annabel, the Red Coven quickly left the busy part of Blytonbury in order to get away from all the _Nightfall_ fans that are swarming Lotte (who thanks to the Curse of Annabel Creme, think she's the author). Their escape led them into a quiet part of town where the crowd are small in numbers. Conveniently, that's where Akko's parents happened to be, as they also have the same idea when it comes to avoiding the crowd of _Nightfall_ fans.

So while Akko stood by her parents' side in the background, telling them what had happened with her in the past week (in Japanese), Lotte and Sucy sat at a table at a nearby cafe, as the former tried to figure out precisely what is going on.

Lotte decided to discuss with Wispy, her spirit companion, on what to do about the Annabel Creme situation (the spirit only "speaks" in squeaks, but Lotte can understand it just fine). But the discussion didn't even last a minute before the Finnish girl ended it with a sigh.

"Wispy thinks I have _always_ been Annabel Creme..." Lotte muttered, depressed with the response she got. "Just what kind of curse this is? I never knew being the author of _Nightfall_ comes with such a curse..."

"Whatever you say, Annabel..." Sucy responded indifferently.

Speaking of _Nightfall_, Akko had apparently just started a rant about the franchise and its author (going by how she mentioned "Naito Foru" and "Anaberu Kuremu" in her rant) to her parents, who seemed confused about what they heard. Akko must've been really furious about Annabel Creme, as the third instance of the former writer's name in Japanese is immediately followed by the phrase "kuso", a Japanese profanity and the one Japanese phrase that Lotte understands the meaning of (due to having heard about it in an episode of the _Nightfall_ TV series with subtitles on).

Akko's parents, who remained confused throughout their daughter's rant about Annabel Creme, responded with a shrug before bidding Akko farewell, at which point Akko returned to rejoin her friends, carrying what looked like a small box with her.

"So, what now?" Akko asked as she sat down at the table with her friends. "We don't know where the original Annabel went to, so there's no use going after her right now..."

Lotte seems to have become gloomy upon hearing that. "Let's just go back to the campus. Hopefully we can forget all of this ever happened..."

...

**Luna Nova campus**

It seems Lotte is never going to be able to forget about the Annabel Creme situation.

The Curse of Annabel Creme is _still_ in effect, leading to the other students calling Lotte "Annabel", as though it had been her name all along. Even Wangari and her friends from the Yellow Coven, who ran the academy's news network, are assaulting the Finnish girl with a barrage of questions related to _Nightfall_ and her being its creator (which is absolutely false, but the Curse prevents them from knowing that).

Lotte recalled what Annabel - the previous one - told her back at the auditorium...

_"I hope you won't be missing your real name... I'm sorry it had to be this way, though..."_

In hindsight, the author's smirk that she had at the beginning of the quiz should've been a major red flag...

The thought of learning about her idol's true colors and the consequences that befell her as a result angered Lotte so much that she broke out in an uncharacteristic furious scream "ARGH! PERKELE!"

Lotte's furious scream is so uncharacteristic that the Yellow Coven decided to cancel their "interview" and walk away from her without another word.

Even Akko and the normally indifferent Sucy reeled back in surprise in reaction to the scream.

"She said she sacrifice everything she had to become Annabel Creme, and regretted it..." Lotte said depressingly, referring to the previous Annabel. "Now, the same thing happened to me, and I too regretted it..."

Akko slowly approached Lotte, and put a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. "I'm so sorry about that, Annabel..." The Japanese girl said. "Maybe we can find a way to lift the curse, or even learn to live with it..."

Lotte sniffed, too sad about the revelation to say anything.

Before anything else can be said, however, a looming shadow approached the Red Coven, sending chills up Akko's spine.

"Miss Kagari, Miss Manbavaran, Miss Creme!" Professor Finneran as she cast an intimidating glare on the Red Coven. "Come to my office, now!"

_Wait, Professor Finneran too?!_

* * *

Annabel Creme as a (anti-)villain. Bet you weren't expecting that.

So in case you still don't get it, Annabel Creme here isn't a person, or even a pseudonym to begin with. It is sort of a "curse", where whoever gets to inherit Annabel Creme's fountain pen essentially have their old identity hijacked and overwritten by Annabel's. The "Curse" also cause everyone in the whole world to believe the poor shmuck who owns the pen right now has always been Annabel Creme, as is the case with Lotte here, who is prevented by the "Curse" from being able to even utter her own name. Just how bad is the "Curse" that Mary-Ann Lait, Lotte's predecessor as Annabel Creme, is so desperate to get rid of it, and is being smug about it when she succeeds?

However, the weird thing is that Akko is the only person in the whole world (for now) who isn't affected by the "Curse", with the only effect being that she's forced by it to call Lotte "Annabel", and even then she's aware she shouldn't be doing so. A blessing from Shiny Rod, perhaps?

But for now, the Annabel Creme arc will have to be put on hold, as Red Coven has another problem to deal with...

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic."

_Afterwords end here._

**NOTE: this is the last chapter of _School For Witches _I can post in FF Dot Net before my four-day vacation ends and I go back to my home country where I won't be able to access the site again for a long time...**


	15. Unfair Conditions

**It's been a long, long time since I last updated anything here on Fanfiction Dot Net, no thanks to dumb government censorship...**

**Much of the chapters from this one onwards are first posted on AO3. As such, their Afterwords are written in correspondence to my state of mind and what was going on in real life at the time they were first posted.**

* * *

**Finneran's Office; Luna Nova**

Getting a face-to-face with Professor Finneran in _her_ office is the worst nightmare of every student in Luna Nova, and there are never any exceptions due to how strict and unforgiving she can be. Not helping anyone's case is the fact that Professor Finneran also happened to be Luna Nova's _Deputy Headmistress_, which meant that the only person in the entire academy who can outright veto her (usually harsh for the students) decisions is Headmistress Holbrooke, who just so happens to going to be off-campus for the whole day...

"Why is it, when something happens, it's always _you three_?!"

Professor Finneran sat, with her arms folded, behind her desk, as she interrogated the Green Coven, who were just busted for committing an offence while in Blytonbury.

Akko, who stood alongside Lotte and Sucy a small distance behind the Green Coven, dared not to make any sound due to just how angry Finneran is about what the Green Coven girls did.

"What did I do again?" Amanda, who either couldn't read the atmosphere or didn't care, asked a rhetoric question sarcastically with her arms behind her head.

For a brief moment, Constanze glared at the redhead, and let out a grunt, which given the current situation could be interpreted as "Not helping!"

"You know what I'm talking about, Miss O'Neil!" Finneran said. "And to think it would the the _police_, of all people, catching you and your Coven doing _that_!"

"Hey!" Amanda retorted. "It ain't my fault that the goddamn officer parked his cruiser right in the middle of our racetrack!"

That earned Amanda an elbow jab from Constanze, who followed it with an angry grunt.

"So what?! I just broke a side mirror, while you managed to shear an entire door off of it with your...hoverbike!" Amanda argued with Constanze, somehow able to interpret the short German's grunts as full sentences.

Constanze answered with yet another angry grunt.

"You wanted to outfly me?" Amanda snorted. "Come on, everyone in Luna Nova knows that nothing can outfly my one-of-a-kind Shooti-"

"Enough!" Finneran interrupted. "Amanda O'Neil, Constanze Albrechtsberger! For participating in unauthorized broom racing and causing property damage, the two of you will be serving your detentions by washing the faerie workers' bath tonight _and_ tomorrow night!"

Amanda tilted her head quizzically at the sentence she just received. "That's it? Just two nights?"

"Unless you want it extended for a week." Finneran added.

Amanda gulped, intimidated by the deputy headmistress's warning. "Uh, yes, ma'am..."

Finneran then turned toward Jasminka, who stood next to her Coven mates, looking all indifferent as she casually munched on her bag of chips.

"Jasminka Antonenko! Even though you did not participate in O'Neil and Albrechtsberger's offence, you will be serving detention with them as well!" Finneran told the chubby Russian girl.

"Aw..." Jasminka said, deflated as she stopped eating and lowered her bag of chips.

_Wow, that's harsh..._ Akko thought.

With that, the Green Coven stepped aside.

"Miss Kagari. Miss Manbavaran. Miss Creme..." Finneran called out to the Red Coven, as it is their turn to be interrogated.

Akko gulped hard, as she and her Coven mates stepped forward. Lotte, on the other hand, is saddened by the fact that the deputy headmistress just called her "Miss Creme" instead of "Miss Jansson". Meanwhile, Sucy still looked as indifferent as ever.

"Does the three of you know what I called you over for?" Finneran began with her interrogation.

Akko really don't have an answer for that, and neither does her Coven mates. "To be sincerely honest, professor, I have no idea."

Finneran turned her stare at Akko into a glare. "According to one of the troll janitors, a huge burst of magic energy erupted from your dormitory moments before you three left for the town." She informed. "Care to explain what that was?"

Akko blinked. There was definitely no burst of magic energy when she was still in the dorm this morning. Did something happen there after she and her friends left?

"I'm afraid I can't, professor..." Akko nervously explained.

Finneran maintained her glare at Akko, who despite being unable to read the atmosphere, can tell that the deputy headmistress is not satisfied with the answer.

"I swear, professor!" Akko, even more nervously than before, plead.

Sucy just responded with a shrug, while Lotte didn't even respond as she is still thinking about the Annabel Creme situation.

Finneran still isn't satisfied with the answer. "Atsuko Kagari, Sucy Manbavaran..." She emphasized, then paused as she laid her eyes on Lotte. "...Annabel Creme. For your lack of responsibilities about something so powerful and potentially dangerous, you three will be serving detention alongside the Green Coven."

Akko stammered. She knew deep down that it was unfair for Finneran to give her and her friends detention for something they don't even know happened. "What?!" She protested. "Detention for that?! That is so-"

"I suggest you shut your mouth, muggle-born, or you will be serving detentions for a _month_." Finneran warned.

Akko stopped without uttering another word.

Meanwhile, Amanda who watched the whole session with the Red Coven, raised an eyebrow at just why Finneran gave the Red Coven detention, and what the deputy headmistress just called Akko...

...

**Faerie worker's bathroom**

"これはとても不公平です!" Akko loudly complained in her native tongue as she kicked a water bucket over, spilling the dirty water all over the (admittedly already dirty) floor.

"Akko..." Lotte tried to calm her Japanese friend down, while Wispy sat on top of her head, providing illumination in the room.

"This is so unfair!" Akko complained again. "Detention for something we didn't even _know_ about?! What is with that old hag!"

"Yes, unfair in that we weren't even told what happened..." Sucy commented, as she lazily pushed a mop back and forth across the dirty floor.

Akko then punched the wall of a troll bathtub in order to vent her frustration. Having forgotten the super strength she has as a witch, her fist ended up punching a hole clean through the bathtub, which is widened when she then clumsily pulled her hand out.

"Hey, would you mind?" Amanda, who is cleaning the inside of the troll bathtub along with Constanze and Jasminka, looked out through the hole and called out to Akko. "Thing's already pretty bad for us! Don't make it worse!"

"I'm sorry! It's just-" Akko fumed.

"It's alright. I can relate to you." Amanda said before casting a spell to fix the hole. Then she climbed up the bathtub and sat at the top of it. "Not me personally, but I know some girls who had received unfair punishments from Professor Bitch Face before." She continued. "Like how in the previous semester, she gave the whole Purple Coven detention because Blair pulled an all-nighter surfing a dating website, even though Avery and Mary are already asleep..."

"That _is_ unfair." Sucy pointed out.

"And then you probably noticed how Jasminka got detention with us even though she didn't broom-race..." Amanda added. "The point is, Finneran's a major pain in the ass, and everyone hates her because of that."

That got Akko to calm down with a sigh. "Does the magical world hate me?" She lamented.

"The magical world doesn't hate you." Amanda reassured. "It's Finneran who does..." She suddenly went sour as she continued.

Sucy seemed to raise her nonexistent eyebrows upon hearing that.

"Professor Finneran hates me?" Akko is confused by the statement.

"I saw that Bitch Face as many things. Cranky old hag, cringe boomer, control freak, one who follows the rule books to a T... basically anything that makes an unlikable person unlikable..." Amanda, still sour about what she has in mind, explained. "But I never saw her as a goddamn bigot until now..."

Akko still don't understand what she just heard. "I don't follo-"

"She is implying that Professor Finneran gave us detention not specifically because of whatever that happened in our dorm," Sucy suddenly spoke up. Her usual indifferent expression gone, replaced by that of tranquil anger. "but because you're a muggle-born, Akko..."

Akko widened her eyes in reaction to what the pale Filipino just told her. "Because I'm muggle-born... just because my parents are Muggles?!"

"These kind of people do exist..." Sucy stated. "I'm speaking from experience..."

"Finneran called you a muggle-born, Akko, when she threatened to worsen your detention for talking back at her." Amanda pointed out. "If that isn't her being a bigot, then I don't know what is."

"What was it that you were saying about Professor Finneran?" A familiar English-accented voice suddenly spoke from the direction of the entrance of the baths.

Everyone turned toward the entrance to see who it was.

"What do you want, Cabbage?" Amanda greeted. "You still trying to mask your Scottish heritage by pretending to be English?"

Diana, with a pixie-powered lamp in her right hand, stepped inside. "My heritage has nothing to do with the topic I'm bringing with me, O'Neil." Diana responded. "I was asked by Deputy Headmistress Finneran to... supervise you all in your detention..."

"Why did she ask _you_, of all people, to supervise us?" Amanda said. "Because you're her ideal Little Miss Perfect?"

Diana flipped her hair before responding, "I did ask her that question myself. She said it was because I am the most reliable student this academy has ever seen." She then turned her head to the side and softly muttered to herself, "However, Professor Nelson claimed it was because the academy don't have enough staff for the job..."

The ace student's soft muttering still ended up being loud enough for everyone to hear (or perhaps it's her voice echoing thorough the bathroom). However, nobody paid any attention to it beyond Amanda raising her eyebrows.

"In any case," Diana continued. "I believe it is my duty to assist the faculty of this academy when I am asked..."

"Did she say anything about a 'muggle-born' when asking you?" Akko suddenly interrupted.

Diana raised her eyebrows when she heard that. "I beg your pardon?"

"Apparently, O'Neil believes that the deputy headmistress is biased against muggle-borns such as Akko..." Sucy clarified.

"That Bitch Face gave Red Coven detention not because they got into any trouble, but simply because Akko's a muggle-born." Amanda followed up.

Diana took a few seconds to process what she just heard. She then dismissed all of it with a shush. "That is preposterous. Someone in a professional position will never act like that."

"You've been in Luna Nova for like how long? One week?" Amanda pointed out.

"Whatever point you are trying to raise won't change my mind, O'Neil." Diana said. "Now, as I am required as supervisor to make sure you all are serving your detentions-"

"You're gonna report to Finneran if we're lazing off. Yeah, we get it, Cabbage." Amanda finished Diana's sentence with a mocking tone. "Come on, ladies, let's get back to work." She then told the other girls before jumping back into the troll bathtub.

With that, Akko and her friends went back to work. Or rather, Akko tried to, as the thought of Finneran being biased against her muggle heritage prevented her from being able to focus. Her mop remained in her hands, completely motionless as she stood where she is.

"Do you require assistance, Kagari?" Diana asked strictly as she noticed Akko's lack of motion.

That jolted Akko out of her deep thought. "する必要はありません。 I mean, no need to..." Akko answered with an uncharacteristic scowl as she started mopping the floor of the bathroom.

The Red and Green Covens, under Diana's supervision, served their detention and did their work in relative silence (aside from the sound of Constanze deploying whatever gizmo she has to clean the inside of the troll bathtub).

"It was her..." Sucy broke the silence a few minutes into the work.

"Huh?" Both Akko and Lotte wondered out loud what Sucy meant.

"It was the cabbage head who went to our dorm in the morning, just moments after we left it, and before meeting her at the campus entrance..." Sucy clarified.

Diana raised her eyebrows at Sucy's accusation, but said nothing.

"How can you tell?" Lotte asked.

"You two probably can't smell it, but Cavendish right now reeks of the smell of the special fertilizer I feed to my mandragoras..." Sucy explained to her Coven mates. "I didn't put said fertilizer anywhere but in our dorm, so that leaves only one possibility, and maybe even explain what exactly was the burst of magical energy Finneran mentioned..."

At that moment, Diana, who seems to have heard the pale Filipino, put her right hand to her nose, which caused her to reel in disgust and mumble that she should take a bath as soon as she gets back to her dorm.

"Well, Cavendish can smell it..." Sucy commented on the ace student's reaction. "Anyway, I now have a hunch on what exactly happened..."

Hearing that, Akko and Lotte both moved toward Sucy, and leaned in as she started telling them...

"Cavendish went to our dorm moments after we left in the morning, presumably to have another shot at taking the Shiny Rod for herself..."

...

_**Red Coven's dorm**_

_**Earlier that morning...**_

_Diana waited for all three members of the Red Coven leave their dorm before making her move._

_With nobody to see her doing it, the ace student used telekinesis magic to open the door and then close it behind her after entering the dorm so as to not leave her fingerprints on the doorknob. With that done, she turned to face the inside of the dorm and the prize she came for._

_The Claiomh Solais, known by its current owner as the Shiny Rod, currently laying flat on the desk._

"Have you come after me again, Descendant of Beatrix?"_ The Shiny Rod said._

_Diana made no response, as she slowly made her way toward the rod, stopping before the desk where it laid. The ace student hesitated for a moment before extending a hand forward to grab the rod._

_As with before, the attempt is met with Diana receiving a shock from the rod rejecting her. The pain from the shock caused her to retract her hand._

"You are still not worthy of wielding me, Descendant of Beatrix."_ The Shiny Rod told her._

_Diana's face formed a scowl. "Why? What about Kagari made her worthy of wielding you?!" She asked. "Because she wasn't actively looking for you?"_

"Because she has the determination necessary in obtaining the Seven Stars of Jennifer the Great."_ The Shiny Rod answered bluntly._

_Diana cast a resilience spell on herself and reached her hand out to grab the rod again. This time, she held on as the resilience spell allowed her to resist the shock from being rejected._

_The Shiny Rod countered that by increasing the intensity of the rejection shock, just enough to overwhelm the resilience spell and cause Diana to let go._

_"My goal is to restore the name and honor of my family, and I strive to be the best of the best in order to achieve it!" Diana, having momentarily slipped out of her faked English accent and back into her natural Scottish, declared with even more anguish than before. "Is that not determination?! Was that not enough determination?!"_

"I said determination, and so did Jennifer the Great."_ The rod then told her. _"What you, Descendant of Beatrix, is showing is not determination. It is in fact, obsession."

_Diana gritted her teeth. Refusing to accept what she was told, she cast the resilience spell on herself again, this time overclocking it to the point of instability, and then made a third attempt at grabbing the Shiny Rod._

_The ace student powered through the more intense rejection shock thanks to the overclocked resilience spell, although she appears to still be struggling as she lifted the rod off the desk._

_Seeing the lengths that Diana is willing to cross, the Shiny Rod had no choice but to fight fire with fire by overclocking the rejection shock as well._

_What happens next is a prime example of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, as the clashing of the overclocked resilience spell and the overclocked rejection shock caused a huge explosion of magic energy that blew Diana off her feet, sending her flying into a rack of Sucy's potted mandragoras, spilling the contents of every pot all over her. The mandragoras weren't screaming upon being released due to having been knocked out by the magic explosion._

"Diana Reinhardt-Cavendish..."_ The Shiny Rod said with utmost worry._ "Your obsession... terrifies me..."

_Diana stood up, her left hand hanging limp as a result of taking the full brunt of the overclocked rejection shock and the magic explosion. She stared at the Shiny Rod with absolute fury._

"You will never be worthy unless you mend your family issues..."

_In response to what the Shiny Rod told her, Diana let out a growl before turning to leave the Red Coven's dorm, but not without using magic to clean up the mess that she inadvertently caused._

...

**Faerie workers' bathroom**

**Right now...**

"And that is what I believe to have happened this morning..." Sucy said as she finished her theory.

Akko then took a glance at Diana, giving the ace student an accusatory stare.

"Diana, did you really...?" Akko questioned.

"I will neither confirm nor deny it." Diana answered bluntly. "Now, Kagari, I suggest that you along with Manbavaran and Creme-" Diana paused and seemed to gasp for a bit, but quickly recovered and went back on track. "I suggest that the three of you get back to your work, as I am required to report all your progress to the deputy headmistress..."

Realizing that Diana basically just threatened to tell Finneran that they aren't serving their detention, the Red Coven quickly went back to work, swiping their mops across the floor so rapidly that they could've peeled the floor tiles off.

The fact that Diana tried to do something so irrational would keep Akko thinking about it for the rest of the night (that along with how to save Lotte from the Curse of Annabel Creme)...

* * *

Huh, Diana became so obsessed with the Shiny Rod that she did something as irrational as breaking into the Red Coven's dorm, tries to take the rod by force (and overclocking a spell to do so), and then _not taking responsibility when the resulting explosion of magic energy was brought to Finneran's attention_. Does it have something to do with her "family issues"?

Speaking of Finneran, it turns out that she actually is biased against Akko being a muggle-born! That's a step up from how she is in canon!

Summing up everything so far, it looks like we've got ourselves not one, not two, but _three_ subplots right now: the Annabel Creme situation, Finneran being biased against Akko's muggle heritage, and Diana's being unworthy of the Shiny Rod. Hmm, this is getting more complicated by the time, especially since I have _another_ subplot coming right up in the next chapter...

You probably noticed that I wrote Diana's full name as "Diana Reinhardt-Cavendish". In case you don't know, that's a reference to Omaomae's _Mending Hearts_ series, where Diana's father's surname is Reinhardt. I've only read _Heart of Iron_ and _Heart of Steel_ as of this writing, but it is a good read, and you should give it a try!

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	16. The Bigger Picture

**Luna Nova Cafeteria**

As the detention given to the Red and Green Covens included them being not allowed to leave the campus until they fully served said detention, the six girls involved are stuck in campus for one more day. Though it doesn't really matter to the Red Coven anyway, since they weren't in the mood of going to Blytonbury after the whole fiasco with Annabel Creme yesterday.

Akko decided to take the opportunity to tie up some loose ends with a certain Irish-accented talking staff.

"Shiny Rod, _please_ tell me exactly _why_ you had to shock Diana, even if she isn't worthy?"

_"As I mentioned before, that is a long story..."_

Not satisfied with the Shiny Rod's response, Akko snatched it off the table, turned it upside down, and slammed its blunt end down on the floor, earning a pained grunt from the staff.

"You've already caused a 'long story' for that whole fiasco involving Cavendish..." Sucy reasonably pointed out for the staff. "I would've force-fed you a truth potion, were it not for the fact that you're an inanimate object..."

"Also, since we're going to be stuck in campus for the rest of today..." Akko, not in the mood for anything exciting today due to yesterday's events, told the sapient staff. "We have plenty of time for plenty of 'long stories'..."

Before Akko can continue, however, a pair of hands from a fourth person excitedly placed themselves on the Red Coven's table, drawing the attention of everyone seated there.

"Annabel Creme! You have _no_ idea how long I have been waiting to meet you!" Declared Elfriede Koch, one of Chloe's Coven mates, as she excitedly looked Lotte in the eyes. "I'm a huge fan of _Nightfall_! I wanted to meet you in person yesterday, but you disappeared in a literal puff of smoke before I can do so, and I was so sad about it! But imagine my surprise to see you right here, having been one of my classmates this whole time!" Elfriede then moved her face uncomfortably close to Lotte's. "How did you manage schoolwork and being the creator of the world's biggest media franchise?!"

"Umm, Elfriede..." Lotte said awkwardly as she gently pushed the enthusiastic brunette an inch away.

"Never mind that! Can I have your autograph?! What plans do you have for the future of the _Nightfall_ franchise?! What is your favorite plot in the franchise?! Are you going to canonize the fan theory that Arthur is actually gay?! Can you add my OC, Sir Elton Brooker of Joelstein, in the next volume of the novels and make him canon?! How about-"

Elfriede's strings of _Nightfall_-related questions is promptly interrupted when Sarah Bernhardt, another one of Chloe's Coven mates, suddenly appeared and covered the enthusiastic brunette's mouth with her hand.

"Sorry about that, Annabel..." Sarah apologized to Lotte. "Elfriede is a bit... crazy... when it comes to _Nightfall_..."

Saying that, the tall redhead then dragged her brunette Coven mate away, while Elfriede squirmed under Sarah's hold.

"Well, I guess you're not the Number 1 fan of _Nightfall_ anymore, Annabel..." Akko commented, then immediately reeled in disgust of being forced to call Lotte "Annabel".

Lotte looked down sadly at her untouched meal. Being indirectly reminded of the Curse of Annabel Creme did not help with her mood. "Am I never going to be able to hear my real name, ever again?" She sadly wondered.

Akko gave Lotte a comforting headpat. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find a way to get it back." She said. "Even if we have to burn that girl, _Mary-Ann Lait_, at a stake to get it done." Akko added, giving the former author of _Nightfall_ a particular amount of venom when mentioning her real name.

Sucy actually giggled at what Akko just said. "Burn her at the stake? Wow, Akko, you must be my distant relative..."

_"If you were actually serious about doing that, then you wouldn't have been made worthy of wielding me in the first place..."_ The Shiny Rod commented.

Akko slammed the sapient staff on the ground again. "Speaking of being worthy, it's time for you to explain exactly why Diana isn't."

The Shiny Rod let out a sigh (or what sounded like a sigh, as it has no mouth to speak of). _"I regret to inform you that I lied and called it a 'long story' because it is very awkward to say: the Descendant of Beatrix has, in your modern day vernacular, mommy issues..."_

Akko, Lotte, and Sucy collectively rolled their eyes on hearing that.

"That's it?" Sucy remarked. "The cabbage head has issues with her mom?"

"Is it bad enough for you to deem Diana unworthy?" Lotte brought up a point for the Shiny Rod.

Akko is less than pleased by the answer she just got. With an uncharacteristic scowl on her face, she proceed to slam the Shiny Rod on the ground, earning another pained grunt from it.

"You caused us to get detention because of _that_?!" The Japanese girl yelled at the sapient staff.

Everyone in the cafeteria stopped what they are doing. Whether they are having their meals, finishing their homeworks, chatting with one another, or just doing things with their smartphones, they all stopped what they are doing to stare at the Red Coven. Murmurs soon followed the scene.

"Is Kagari arguing with her talking staff?"

"What did she mean by 'that'?"

"Does it have something to do with Shiny Chariot?"

"How does Manbavaran and Creme handle their loud Coven mate, anyway?"

The Red Coven girls looked at the other students awkwardly. Akko especially so as she is the one who drew everyone's attention.

"Kagari, would you mind?" An annoyed Avery chastised Akko from the table occupied by the Purple Coven. "We're trying to shoot a video here!"

Indeed, the Purple Coven appears to be set up for shooting a video. Avery is standing in front of a video camera that Mary operated, while Blair looked like she was preparing to toss a bucket of confetti (with a broom animated by magic, ready to clean it all up). Mary is not pleased by the interruption, as she glared at Akko.

Akko stood up and bowed apologetically to the Purple Coven. "I'm so sorry."

Lotte also stood up and apologized. "Sorry about that, Avery..."

Avery dismissed it with a shush. "Never mind." She said. "That video is just a minute long, we could spend the entire day doing reshoots if needed."

"Though I hope you don't repeat this in the banquet next Sunday." Blair interjected.

"Alright, alright, I will..." Akko said as she set the Shiny Rod down on the table, briefly giving it a glare before turning back to the Purple Coven upon realizing something. "Wait. What banquet?"

"Haven't you heard?" Avery spoke up. "Next Sunday, Luna Nova will be holding a banquet to commemorate its 60 years of friendship with Appleton. Headmistress Holbrooke expects us all to give the guys at Appleton a good impression like it has always been."

"Maybe I just wasn't informed about this friendship banquet, which sounds like serious business with how you talked about it." Akko said with a shrug. "But what is Appleton, anyway?"

...

**Appleton Academy**

"Hey, Louis, have you heard about the inter-academy friendship banquet that will be held next Sunday?"

Louis Blackwell, in the middle of a casual game of poker with his friends in the central courtyard of Appleton Academy, looked up from the cards in his hand when the topic is brought up by said friends.

"What academy is the great Appleton Academy going to have that friendship banquet with?" Louis asked for clarification.

"With Luna Nova, I heard." One of his classmates answered.

Louis thought about what he heard for a bit before putting down the cards in his hand - he would've won with his current deck anyway.

"Isn't Luna Nova that school for witches?" Louis stood up from the poker table and pointed out for everyone. "Whose staff members are rumored to be biased against muggles?"

"If we're talking about witches," One of Louis's classmates brought up. "don't most of them act like it's still the Middle Ages?"

"With only a handful who are willing to accept modern technology?" Another classmate brought up his own point.

Louis crossed his arms for emphasis. "Right. Witches are simply those that cling to the stale, vulgar traditions of the past, with only a handful who are willing to accept advancements." He declared to everyone. "After all, those that wither away while never adapting to a changing society would be terrible matches for ourselves."

With that, the students of Appleton who have gathered around Louis started joining in with their own points.

"Which muggle invention proved to be more efficient than fairy-powered lamps? The lightbulb."

"Which muggle vehicle has flying brooms beaten in every aspect except portability? The aeroplane."

"Which muggle communication method can send a message to its intended receiver in the time it takes a messenger owl to spread its wings? Radio signals."

"What is it that helped the allies win World War 2? The atomic bomb, created by a muggle scientist."

"Whose knowledge and expertise helped put Neil Armstrong on the moon? A muggle called Werner Von Braun."

Louis just stood there, being all smug about it as everyone made their own points that agreed with his...

"Are you guys so sure it's a good idea to insult witches, or even the wizarding world in general, like that?" Then someone in the crowd of Appleton students - a guy with a triangular hairdo - said something different. "I mean, some of us in Appleton have relatives who are witches or wizards, or are _themselves_ wizards..."

That got everyone to stop for a bit.

"You're right, Frank."

"I do recall Amadeus mentioning that he has a sister in Luna Nova."

"Speaking of witches..." One of Louis's classmates suddenly said. "Aren't they kind of erotic too? Like, I've heard a lot about how the feudal lords in the medieval ages were often lured by witches sexually..."

"No, that's totally wrong, Crabbe..." The triangular-haired student, Frank, pointed out for that person.

Louis followed that by giving his classmate a light smack on the back. "Where'd you hear that rumor anyway, Crabbe?! That's as bad as when you suggested we dress up as executioners in last year's Halloween banquet!" He proceeded to chew out Crabbe.

"Right, we're not supposed to ruin 60 years of inter-academy friendship with one politically incorrect rumor." Louis's other classmate remarked. "By the way, Louis, I heard that your dad is invited to the banquet too."

Louis took note of that. "Really, Goyle? My father?" He asked for clarification.

"So is Andrew's dad, I think..." Frank added to that.

"Andrew's father?" Louis sounds surprised by that. "As in Senator Paul Hanbridge? But why? What is the headmistress of Luna Nova up to...?"

"There were also rumors that Luna Nova is facing financial issues, so maybe..." The other classmate, Goyle, said as he then did a "the answer should be obvious" gesture.

"Financial issues, huh?" Louis took note of that.

* * *

So yeah, it's canon that Diana has mommy issues. Though you probably noticed, going by Diana's behavior in the previous chapter, that it is probably very different than canon. How? Well, that'll have to wait until a later chapter.

And here's the introduction of Appleton Academy, along with Frank and Louis Blackwell. Unlike the canon version of Appleton, however, this version of Appleton is friendly toward Luna Nova and witches in general (aside from some incorrect stereotypes about witches), with this version of Louis even believing that dressing up as executioners for Halloween is bad (in contrast to canon where he _leads_ his classmates as Appleton's anti-witchcraft executioners).

Yes, Louis's wingmen being called Crabbe and Goyle are deliberate references to _Harry Potter_.

Also, Elfriede (a background witch that shares Sarah's coven) naming her _Nightfall_ OC "Sir Elton Brooker of Joelstein" is a reference to the fanfic "_Spellswitched_" by Diana1969, where it is mentioned by Elfriede during her appearance in that fic's fifth chapter.

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	17. Good Girl, Bad Girls

Okay, so I realized that the previous chapter is rather lackluster and disappointing after re-reading it for a bit...

To make up for that, I'll try my best to make this chapter as interesting as I can.

Yes, this chapter is probably the second time I broke my "no more Forewords" rule that I gave myself back when I was still writing _Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream_.

Also, this chapter features a moment of Hannah and Barbara being absolutely abusive. As such, reader's discretion is advised.

_Forewords end here._

* * *

**Luna Nova Corridors**

"Where are we going, Akko?" Lotte asked. "You know we can't leave the campus because of the detention..."

"We're going to see Professor Ashura." Akko, with the Shiny Rod strapped to her sash, answered, mispronouncing Ursula's name once again. "Maybe she can help answer some of the questions we had."

"The questions being?" Sucy wondered as she shuffled alongside her Coven mates.

"Diana's obsession with Shiny Rod, the Curse of Annabel Creme, the banquet with this Appleton Academy... the likes." Akko said.

"Can she actually answer any of them?" Lotte brought up a point.

Akko stopped in the middle of her tracks as she pondered the point that the Finnish girl brought up.

_"Can she?"_ The Shiny Rod repeated Lotte's words for emphasis.

Akko turned the Rod upside down and slammed its tip on the floor. "Please don't say anything until we reach Professor Ashura..." She told it.

The Shiny Rod groaned.

"Maybe?" The Japanese girl then shrugged in response to Lotte's question. "Anyway, Professor Ashura is the only person I could possibly expect an answer fro-"

Akko froze when she saw Hannah and Barbara walking (backwards, for some reason) into view from an intersection, while also doing their usual "rich girl's laugh".

"It's those two!" Akko told her Coven mates. "Quick, hide!"

The Red Coven quickly retreated into a janitor closet nearby, not wanting to be seen by the Blue Coven bullies. Some of the other students in the corridor seems to have the same idea, as they quickly found themselves places to hide from the bullies.

"Please give it back! I beg you!" A third voice wailed from where Hannah and Barbara are walking out from.

The Red Coven slightly poked their heads out of the janitor closet (though Lotte quickly retreated back in due to her PTSD being triggered by Hannah and Barbara's presence), seeing Yang Shao-Yi of the Teal Coven confronting the Blue Coven bullies in a very worried manner.

"You call this piece of trash a gemstone~?" Hannah mocked Shao-Yi, deliberately keeping what looked like a jade gemstone out of the Chinese student's reach. "I always believed you Chinese people have low standards for beauty~!" She added before tossing the gemstone over to Barbara.

"You should learn more about what real gemstones are like from the British~!" Barbara continued with the mocking, as she also kept the gemstone out of Shao-Yi's reach. "Oh wait! You won't! Because you Chinese people are arrogant!"

"Stop it! Please!" Shao-Yi begged to no avail.

Hannah and Barbara continued to tease Shao-Yi by keeping the gemstone out of her reach, tossing it to one another from time to time. As this occurred, the other students who haven't hidden themselves from the Blue Coven bullies just stood by and watched, either not knowing how to help the Chinese student or are afraid of taking action against Hannah and Barbara (some are in fact showing PTSD similar to Lotte).

"Hey, Barbs," Hannah said to her friend with a glint in her eyes. "why don't we save Yang some trouble, and help her get rid of this piece of trash?" She then tossed the gemstone to Barbara, who caught it in her hands.

"I agree, Han~" Barbara said mischievously. "After all, there are plenty of similar 'gemstones' that can be found in Blytonbury~"

Shao-Yi's eyes widened in terror, for she knew what is about to happen. "No, please! I spent weeks searching for it!"

Barbara ignored the Chinese student's plea, as she then crushed the gemstone into tiny pieces with one hand, all while giggling gleefully about it.

"NO!" Shao-Yi cried out as she helplessly watched her gemstone getting crushed into bits.

Watching Hannah and Barbara downright _abusing_ a fellow student like that caused Akko to boil in absolute fury. Even more so than when she met them for the first time at the day of the Matriculation Ceremony. Even Sucy has broken her indifferent demeanor and is boiling in fury at the sight of the Blue Coven bullies doing what they just did.

Barbara allowed the crushed gemstone fragments to fall off her hand onto the floor. "Oh, don't worry, Yang~" She then gloated about it.

"I'm sure you should be able to find a similar one soon enough~" Hannah gloated as well.

Then to rub salt in the would, the Blue Coven duo proceeded to step on the pile of gemstone fragments and grind the soles of their shoes against it, all while laughing about it. Once they're satisfied with their actions, they made their departure from the scene by walking down the same corridor that the Red Coven came from, with the other students instinctively getting out of their way.

The Red Coven quickly retreated back into the janitor closet as Hannah and Barbara approached their position, and only emerging after the Blue Coven duo have left the corridor.

It was a sad sight to watch. Shao-Yi knelt down before the pile of gemstone fragments, defeated and looking utterly depressed. She soon started crying about the terrible thing that she just experienced. The other students nearby pitied the Chinese student, and wished they could help her.

"Those two...!" Akko, boiling even further with fury, said. "I'm going to make them pay!" She declared.

Sucy took a vial of questionable substances out of her robes. "Let's see them keep up their usual antics after they have a _literal_ taste of karma..." She announced.

_"I would _love_ to see them get struck by lightning..._" The Shiny Rod, though not boiling with fury, agreed.

"Wait, you three!" Lotte interrupted her Coven mates and the Shiny Rod. "I know Hannah and Barbara deserved such punishment after what they did, but it shouldn't have to involve violence!"

"Weren't you also one of their victims, Annabel?" Akko brought up a point. She is too angry about Hannah and Barbara to care about the Curse of Annabel Creme.

"So much that you suffer PTSD when they so much as _appears_..." Sucy brought up another point. Mentally, she cringed at the fact that she just agreed with Akko, but she told herself that it isn't the point right now.

"But still..." Lotte protested, but didn't finish her sentence as she shifted her attention onto Shao-Yi, who is still crying.

Even though this isn't the first time the Finnish girl got bullied or witnessed a fellow student getting bullied, Lotte felt saddened by what Shao-Yi just went through.

Sighing, Lotte then slowly approached Shao-Yi, stopping a short distance before the Chinese student.

Shao-Yi looked up as she noticed Lotte drawing near. "What do you want, Annabel?" She asked, still crying about her predicament.

Lotte took a deep breath to calm herself, ignoring the Curse of Annabel Creme for now. She didn't want to say the wrong thing by accident and end up offending Shao-Yi in some way. "I... um... I'm sorry for what just happened to you..."

Shao-Yi wiped her tears with the sleeve of her uniform before responding, "It... wasn't your fault..."

"I know..." Lotte responded as she pulled out her wand. She then waved her wand at the pile of gemstone fragments. "**Sosomme Tidiare**" She chanted.

Immediately after the Finnish girl casted that spell, the gemstone fragments began to magically reassemble themselves, turning back into the gemstone that it was prior to being crushed by Barbara.

Everyone in the corridor, including Akko and Sucy, became awestruck by the sight of Lotte's spell restoring the gemstone back to perfect condition. Shao-Yi, on the other hand, picked up the gemstone and ran her fingers over it to check that it is really restored. After confirming that it is indeed real, she shed tears of joy.

"Thank you, Annabel! Thank you so much!" Shao-Yi thanked Lotte with utmost joy.

"You don't have to..." Lotte said meekly. "I'm just doing the right thing."

With that, Lotte quickly departed from the scene, dragging Akko with her toward the direction of the New Moon Tower.

"Some day, those two Blue meanies are going to have to pay for their behavior!" Akko is heard muttering before she disappeared down the corridor along with Lotte.

"Yang Shao-Yi, is it?" Sucy, still holding the vial of questionable substance, approached the Chinese student. "Word of advice: put your precious belongings where nobody will be able to see them." She advised. "I speak from experience..."

...

**New Moon Tower**

After that close encounter with Hannah and Barbara, and then fixing what they did to Shao-Yi, Akko and Lotte arrived at Ursula's office at the New Moon Tower without a hitch. Sucy joined them about a minute later.

"I just can't believe those two..." Akko recalled what she saw Hannah and Barbara did moments ago. "The fact that they haven't been expelled, or even given detention yet is just unbelievable..."

"Luna Nova seems pretty... biased..." Sucy voiced her opinion. "After all, we only learned just yesterday that Professor Finneran is..."

_"Being biased. The one thing about human civilization that never goes away..."_ The Shiny Rod commented.

Akko recalled how, right after Broom Flying Class the other day, the Purple Team seems to be overcome with fear when Diana confronted them for badmouthing her. And then there's the gossip she heard from the other students before Fortune Telling Class in another day about how getting rejected by the Shiny Rod will teach Diana a lesson for being a bully (even though the truth isn't really about bullying). At first, Akko didn't understand why her fellow students in both of those instances reacted so.

Looking back, she now understood that it was all because of Hannah and Barbara...

"It's fine, everyone..." Lotte said. "I don't even care about the 'why' anymore..."

"Well, I still care about the 'why'!" Akko declared. "And that's the reason I decided to come talk to Professor Ashura in the first place!" Saying that, Akko then approached the door to Ursula's office, and in her impetuousness, forgot to knock first as she twisted the doorknob and opened the door - Ursula had apparently forgotten to lock the door this time. "Professor Ashura, I have many things to a-"

The Japanese girl paused mid-sentence upon realizing that she had barged in while Ursula is in the middle of a video call with someone - using an actual laptop instead of a crystal ball.

Ursula yelped in surprise as she quickly turned around to face Akko. "Mon dieu! You surprised me, Akko!" The blue-haired professor exclaimed before turning back to her laptop. "Je reviens tout de suite!" She said to whoever she just had a video call with, before hastily closing the lid of her laptop.

"I'm so sorry!" Akko quickly bowed apologetically.

Ursula took a deep breath to calm herself down before asking, "What brings you here today? You even brought Miss Manbavaran and Miss Creme alo-" The blue-haired professor paused in confusion. "Hang on, why am I calling Miss Creme...?!"

Akko immediately face-palmed. "Not you too, Professor Ashura?!"

Ursula, apparently aware that she shouldn't be calling Lotte "Miss Creme" and is confused by why she just did, coughed into her hands before continuing. "Is that why you came to me for?"

"Actually, that is just one of many things I need to talk to you about..." Akko told Ursula. "It's going to be a very long story, so we're going to need a few cups of tea while we're at them..."

* * *

Here it is, a chapter that is a major improvement from the disappointing trash that is the previous chapter (in my opinion, at least). Red Coven chatting with Ursula was originally going to be the second half of this chapter, but I have delayed this chapter for too long (in my opinion) and so had to leave it for the next chapter instead.

If you've pitied Hannah and Barbara after Akko successfully deflected their French insult a few chapters earlier, I guess this chapter would make you want to retract that pity, and keelhaul them into a black hole without spacesuits. Yes, those two are just that bad in this story's universe. That said, am I a bit mean to Shao-Yi by having her get bullied by Hannah and Barbara here?

So it seems that like Akko, Ursula is fully aware that she shouldn't be calling Lotte "Miss Creme". I wonder why...?

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	18. Some Personal Matters

**New Moon Tower**

Akko talked to Ursula about everything she has on her mind, namely how Lotte got hit by the Curse of Annabel Creme, how Diana tried to steal the Shiny Rod and the ensuing discharge of magical energy that got Red Coven into trouble. Lotte was going to bring up how Finneran is found to be biased against Akko for being a muggle-born, but was stopped by, surprisingly, Sucy, who covered the Finnish girl's mouth with a hand and just shook her head.

"So let me repeat what I just heard..." Ursula said before taking a sip from her teacup and swallowing the tea. "Firstly: yesterday, you girls went to Blytonbury to attend a _Nightfall_ convention, where you found your way to a Trivia Game hosted by..." The blue-haired professor looked at Lotte. "...Miss Creme...?"

"No, not her..." Akko corrected. "Well, yes, it was Annabel Creme. Just not _her_..." She then pointed at Lotte. "And she isn't the host, just a 'special guest star' who was going to hand out a prize to whoever wins the Trivia Game." Akko finished her correction.

Ursula coughed into her right hand. "And the reason you and I are calling Miss Cre- your Coven mate Annabel Creme instead of her real name was because of the Curse in the fountain pen that was given to her as a prize?"

Upon hearing the fountain pen getting mentioned, Lotte produced it from her pockets and placed it on the coffee table.

"Yes, but not just that." Akko, eyeing the pen with venom, clarified. "It somehow made everyone, including Professor Finneran, believe that she has always been Annabel Creme her whole life!"

"Isn't it?" Sucy wondered out loud.

"But why didn't it affect you and I, professor?" Akko asked Ursula. "Not fully, since we're forced by the Curse to call her Annabel Creme. But why?"

Ursula racked her brain for an answer, and came up with nothing. "I... uh... have no idea..."

"_Nightfall Mysteries_, Case #123..." Lotte suddenly uttered.

"Huh?" Akko and Ursula turned their attention on the Finnish girl.

"In _Nightfall Mysteries_, one of the cases has the culprit, a bestselling author who is said to be a self-insert character of Annabel Creme, escape from her responsibilities by using a spell to swap her identity with one of her fans, causing everyone to believe that the fan has always been the author..." Lotte explained with a gloomy expression on her face. "_Nightfall Mysteries_ is the only _Nightfall_ video game where Annabel herself has direct input in the development process..."

"What were you saying, Miss Creme?" Ursula asked for clarification.

"That Mary-Ann Lait - the Annabel Creme before me - has been planning this for years already..." Lotte said.

"But why does she want to give up being the author of the world's most popular franchise? Akko touched her chin while thinking about it. "The only clue we have is that she sacrificed a lot to become Annabel Creme, and regretted it..."

"Perhaps it's because of the extreme workload?" Ursula offered her opinion. "It must've been exhausting to take over being the creator of the world's biggest, most successful franchise..."

"Is that so?" Akko wondered.

At the same time, Sucy, who hasn't paid any attention to the conversation as she added potions of...questionable nature...into her cup of tea, suddenly looked up from her indiscreet experiment.

"Professor Ursula, is it?" Sucy grabbed the blue-haired professor's attention. "You sounded like you know an awful lot about the exhausting life of being a world-famous celebrity..."

That seems to have caught Ursula by surprise. "W-what makes you think that?!" She nervously asked.

"Just a feeling..." Sucy answered before going right back to her indiscreet experiment.

Akko blinked in confusion at this brief exchange. Meanwhile, Ursula's white crow familiar who sat on its perch cawed in a way that sounds like a laugh.

"S-shut up!" Ursula called out to the familiar. "A-anyway..." She then turned back to the Red Coven. "I'm sure this... um... Mary-Ann Lait just didn't realize how tough being Annabel Creme is going to be..." She told them. "Have you tried asking the Shiny Rod about it?"

_"As far as I can tell," _Shiny Rod started speaking. _"the curse that Annabel Creme has been afflicted with-"_ The Rod paused for a second when Akko and Ursula gasped at the fact that even the sapient staff is calling Lotte "Annabel Creme". _"-is not really a curse. At least, not made as one."_

"The Curse of Annabel Creme is... _not_ a curse?" Akko asked in confusion.

_"Annabel Creme - the previous one - may have called it a curse out of spite upon discovering that getting it resulted in her losing her true identity, as was what happened with the _current_ Annabel Creme."_ Shiny Rod explained. _"The original Annabel Creme knew her work would outlive her, so she presumably put a spell on her fountain pen so that whoever inherits it becomes the new Annabel Creme, in the most literal sense."_

"But why does it have to overwrite the inheritor's identity and make everyone believe she has always been Annabel Creme her whole life?" Ursula brought up a concerning point.

_"That, even I am not quite sure about._" Shiny Rod informed. _"I suspect Annabel Creme Number One was an excellent writer but a terrible witch..."_

Everyone else are stunned by the Shiny Rod's remark.

"The 'overwriting identity and memory-changing' parts are a mistake on the first Annabel's part...?" Akko commented in disbelief.

_"In that case, it would be very difficult to solve this problem..."_

Lotte went into a depressive state upon hearing that.

"I will try my best to look for a solution to the Curse." Ursula said. She tried to pick up the fountain pen, only to receive a shock similar to that of when Diana tried to grab the Shiny Rod, causing her to withdraw her hand. "For now, let us put it aside and focus on another topic..." She massaged her hand in reaction to the shock. "About Miss Cavendish... attempting to steal the Shiny Rod? She wouldn't possibly-"

_"They didn't make that up. The Descendant of Beatrix did try to take me by force, despite being shown to be not worthy..."_ The Shiny Rod informed Ursula.

"Why...?"

_"She could never let go of her feelings about her mother..."_

"In other words, Miss Perfect Cabbage has mommy issues..." Sucy butted in.

Ursula seems conflicted by what Sucy just said. "Mommy issues?"

"Though I have to wonder, has her mother died a long time ago, and she is still grieving about it?"

All of a sudden, something crashed through the window that the large telescope looked out of, impacting the telescope hard enough to deform its frame and shatter its lens. The noise came sudden enough that even Lotte is snapped out of her depressive state.

It turned out to be Amanda O'Neil, who then slid down the telescope like a bobsled on a snowy mountainside before landing at the bottom of it in a heap. What looked like an iPod then landed right next to her.

"Ow..." Amanda groaned as she picked herself up from the floor, and collected the iPod. "Sorry about that, Teach..." She apologized to Ursula.

"Amanda?" It was Akko who took note of the redhead's sudden arrival first. "What are you doing here?"

"Akko, is it? I should be asking you that instead." Amanda responded. "Anyway, has anyone here seen a red broom with an arrowhead for its tip?"

The moment Amanda finished that sentence, the broom in question landed by her feet with a thud.

_"Ow..."_ A male, American-accented voice seemed to come from the broom. _"And that's why we shouldn't listen to Led Zeppelin when broom-flying..."_

The Red Coven and Ursula were not at all surprised to hear the broom speaking. After all, they've already met the talking sapient staff that is the Shiny Rod.

Amanda bent over to pick up the red broom. "You just don't like Jimmy Page's voice, jackass..." She gave the broom an accusatory pointer-finger.

_"Oh, sure, blame everything on me..."_ The red broom argued. _"Just like what happened back at San Fran..."_

"You're lucky that suspension cable was unscathed."

_"I had to spend the next five days in the SFPD's warehouse because of it. And damn, does the warehouse stinks!"_

"That wouldn't have happened if you've known I was just joking that time."

Ursula then walked up to Amanda to interrupt her argument with the red broom. "Excuse me! Amanda...O'Neil, is it? I'm talking with some students about some private matters, so could you please-"

The red broom bent its tip to point the arrowhead at Ursula. _"Oh hi, Miss Ch-"_

Amanda punched the arrowhead, which had the same effect to the red broom as if a person was punched in the face. "Not now!" She whispered to the red broom. "Sorry about that, professor. I'll be on my way right no-"

All of a sudden, the red broom pointed its arrowhead away from Ursula, toward where the Red Coven girls are.

_"Long time no see, Shiny Rod!"_ The red broom playfully greeted the sapient staff.

_"You?!"_ The Shiny Rod practically screamed. It has no face to express with, but it definitely doesn't seem thrilled to meet the red broom.

Akko and Amanda both reacted with utmost surprise to how their respective sapient items seemed to know each other, and has a lot of bad history, going by how Shiny Rod reacted to seeing the red broom.

"Wait, Akko..." Amanda pointed out. "You have Shiny Chariot's iconic Shiny Rod with you, and it can _talk_ like Shooting Star does?!"

"Long story..." Akko answered.

Amanda's broom, the Shooting Star, broke free of her grip, and went to meet the Shiny Rod.

_"So I guess Shiny Chariot gave you the pink slip?" _Shooting Star began.

_"No. There is just some... complications." _Shiny Rod answered with dissatisfaction in its tone. _"What. Are. You. Doing. Here. Anyway?"_

_"Well, it wasn't my choice that I'm here today. I got pawned off in a shop called the Last Wednesday Society for some drink money, and has been gathering dust in a cage in that shop for 10 stinking years until Amanda O'Neil here bought me last year. We've been hanging out ever since."_

_"Were you pawned off because you tried to show off again?"_

_"Oh, come on! Maybe it _is_ my fault that a previous wielder of yours took a Confederate bullet to the face, but that was just ONE time!"_

And so everyone spent the next five minutes listening to the Shiny Rod and the Shooting Star arguing with each other like a minimal wage housewife and her celebrity ex-boyfriend.

Both sapient item's argument were only halted when their respective owners intervened - Akko by grabbing Shiny Rod and slamming its blunt end on the floor; Amanda by catching Shooting Star and then punching it in its arrowhead. Both sapient items let out pained groans upon getting "disciplined" by their owners.

"Long story, huh?" Amanda glared at Shooting Star.

"Just how many 'long stories' do you have...?" Akko shot Shiny Rod a curious but annoyed glance.

"At this rate, I'm sure we're going to get 'long story' as the answer for everything..." Sucy stepped in and shrugged.

Amanda gripped Shooting Star with both hands to ensure it can't fly off on its own.

"Sorry about all of this, Teach." Amanda then apologized to Ursula. "I'll be on my way right now, and you can have your chit-chat with the Reds..."

With that, Amanda hopped onto Shooting Star and flew out through the window that she crashed into the room from, where Constanze and Jasminka popped in for a bit to check on her. The redhead then promptly left the scene with her Coven mates.

"I never Amanda has a talking broom. One that has known Shiny Rod for a very long time, even..." Akko muttered.

_"I'd rather be called Shiny Rod than to see that broom, ever again..."_ Shiny Rod complained.

Ursula then turned back to the Red Coven. "So where were we? About Miss Cavendish's... um... mommy issues?"

...

Unbeknownst to the Red Coven, Shiny Rod, and even Ursula, they are being spied upon by a certain cabbage-haired prodigy from right outside the office.

Diana, still desiring ownership of Shiny Rod despite what had happened yesterday, followed the Red Coven all the way here, as she found herself outside Professor Ursula's office yet again. Diana refused to believe that a klutz of muggle heritage like Akko could ever possibly be worthy of the legendary artifact that is Claiomh Solais (though it isn't because Diana is racist, as her belief has nothing to do with racism). Even if the Rod tells her straight to her face with utmost brutal honesty that she is not worthy, Diana will do whatever it takes to claim it.

She just couldn't believe that the reason she is not worthy of even touching the Claiomh Solais is because of her relationship with her mother.

_Just how long does that woman have to haunt my life...?_

* * *

Finally, I was able to get this posted after fighting through a bad case of Writer's Block.

So yeah, we're introduced to Shooting Star here, and like Shiny Rod, it can talk. Their relationship are like an old married couple, and like an old married couple, they argue with each other about stuff. [Shiny Rod X Shooting Star] ship, anyone? What would the ship name even be called? Shiny Star?

Anyways, with the Covid-19 pandemic getting worse and worse by time, do obey the quarantine measures, and stay safe at home. Your god forsake you if you decide to ignore the quarantine for whatever reason.

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	19. More Questions

**Luna Nova cafeteria**

The discussion with Ursula regarding Diana's "mommy issues" hit a dead end very quickly, so the Red Coven ended up leaving the professor's office without getting a conclusive answer to their questions (especially not after getting interrupted by Amanda and her broom, the Shooting Star).

Akko had decided to take her mind off the matter by going back to her dorm to fetch the package that she got from her parents yesterday - which turned out to be a jar of _Umeboshi_ pickled plums - and then head off to the cafeteria to snack on them.

"Anger management snacking..." Sucy mused as she watched Akko pop a pickled plum into her mouth. "Minus the anger, of course..."

"Want one?" Akko asked Sucy as she passed her a pickled plum.

Sucy is legitimately curious about the snack, so she leaned in to give it a sniff.

Something about the pickled plum made Sucy widen her one exposed eye in surprise.

"No, thank you..." Sucy politely declined - a response unusual for her. "I don't like sour things..." She added.

"Oh, sorry about that." Akko retracted her hand. "How about you, Annabel?" She then turned towards Lotte.

"I'm not hungry..." Lotte responded. She is still sad about how she didn't get any useful answers about the Curse of Annabel Creme.

"Sorry..." Akko apologized, before popping the pickled plum into her mouth.

Sucy stared at Akko's jar of pickled plums. _There is something in there other than plums and vinegar. But what is it...?_ She thought to herself.

_"It appears that you have something on your mind."_ Shiny Rod said to Sucy.

"None of your business." The puce-haired girl responded indifferently like she would usually do, except this time she's just pretending.

After that, the Red Coven resumed doing their things. Akko continued snacking on her pickled plums; Lotte continued thinking about how she may have to live with being Annabel Creme for the rest of her life; Wispy the Will-O-Wisp sat on the rim of the skull-shaped lantern that Lotte uses to carry it around, seemingly pitying its master's plight; Sucy continued eyeing Akko's jar of pickled plums with suspicion of its contents; and Shiny Rod... did absolutely nothing as it allows itself to be hung on its owner's sash.

In the background, Elfriede is still excited about the "fact" that "Annabel Creme" has been her classmate all along, and has to be restrained by Sarah so she doesn't go and disturb the Red Coven with her fangirling. The Purple Coven is still shooting their video, with Blair tossing a bucket-load of confetti over Avery for the current scene being filmed. Bice Clarke from the Lemon Coven is bragging to her Coven mates about how she is going to rule the world with an army of dragons, though she is quick to be dismissed by her friends as a _Game of Thrones_ nut (Akko even called her a _chunnibyou_ behind her back). Daisy is telling her Coven mates in the Puce Coven about how she wants to be the cutest idol in the world, only to throw a minor fit when Coven mate Heather Lockhart points out her masculine first name of _James_...

Everything in the cafeteria suddenly grounded to a halt, becoming so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Akko stopped her snacking to see what is going on.

Diana Cavendish has entered the cafeteria, stopping right by the entrance.

Most of the students currently present in the cafeteria still remembers when Diana tried to forcefully take Shiny Rod from Akko, and got zapped by the Rod for her attempt. Some of them started murmuring to each other about it when Diana turned her attention on Akko.

Akko noticed Diana staring at her. She instinctively tightened her grip on the Shiny Rod.

The Japanese girl's fear seems to be proven when the ace student started to approach her, hostile intent written on her face. Akko reached for her academy-issued wand (a replacement after her previous one was snapped in half by Annabel Creme), fully prepared to defend herself if necessary.

Sucy also noticed, as she stood up from her seat and, producing a corked vial from seemingly out of nowhere, prepared herself to face Diana. Lotte didn't react to Diana's approach, but Wispy did, as it hopped off its lantern and positioned itself in front of Akko.

_"That girl is so determined, I am _afraid_ of her..."_ Shiny Rod uttered

The atmosphere became intense as Diana slowly made her way toward the Red Coven. She noticed the Red Coven taking a defensive stance, but didn't reach for her wand.

That is when Chloe Dubois of all people suddenly appeared, placing herself between the Red Coven and Diana. Akko became confused as to why Chloe did so.

Chloe's mere presence cause Lotte to shrink away as her PTSD kicked in.

"Diana Cavendish," Chloe snarled at the ace student. "still trying to steal the Shiny Rod from its new owner?"

Only with Chloe getting involved did Diana reach for her wand. "None of your business, Dubois. Please get out of the way." She snarled back as she flipped her hair with her other hand.

Chloe reached for her wand, and slowly removed it from its holster. "You have already took my place as the ace of Luna Nova away from me. And now you're going to take the so-called Shiny Rod from Kagari? With force?"

"The Claiomh Solais was never hers to begin with." Diana snarled again. "Now _stand aside_." She then pulled her wand out of its holster.

"Or what? Don't tell me that a prim and proper lady like you would resort to violence!" Chloe basically taunted Diana to her face.

One could easily tell from Diana's expression that she is getting angrier, with how much her eyebrows have narrowed, and how hard she is grinding her teeth.

"Why are you helping me?" Akko cuts in during the intense moment to ask Chloe.

"I'm not, Kagari." Chloe answered without removing her sights on Diana. "You are just an non-factor caught in the crossfire."

Despite the intense moment, Akko felt offended by that statement. "I'm not a non-factor!"

"You were never supposed to be factor in the purpose of the Claiomh Solais in the first place!" Diana briefly ignored Chloe to tell Akko. The ace student then raised her wand, and attempted to use a telekinesis spell to pull the Shiny Rod from Akko's sash belt.

Chloe, however, interpreted Diana raising her wand as her preparing to attack, and attacked preemptively. Swinging her wand like a knife, Chloe hurled a magic bolt at Diana without uttering an incantation.

Diana, surprised by the sudden attack, swung her wand in a similar way at the magic bolt to deflect it away from her. The deflected bolt wounded up flying toward the windows, shattering one of many glass panes on them.

The other students in the cafeteria froze. Some of them have started to panic slightly as they realized that the confrontation has started to turn hot. Sarah and Elfriede became worried about what their Coven mate is about to do. Even Akko had a bad feeling about it as she along with Sucy and Wispy backed off.

Chloe then aimed her wand at Diana's face. The former French bully's face has provocation written all over it.

"En garde..."

And with that, Chloe started flinging another magic bolt at Diana, followed by another, and another, and another...

Diana, now knowing what to expect, expertly deflected each magic bolt away from her, even making sure she doesn't accidentally deflect them toward a fellow student. Although just the fight starting is enough to make everyone else in the cafeteria either bolt out of it quickly or flip tables over to hide behind them as covers.

The Red Coven have similarly taken cover behind a table Akko flipped over. Wispy has made a hasty retreat back to its lantern which Lotte then hugged close to herself.

"This has escalated, hasn't it?!" Akko cried out as she hunkered down behind the flipped table. "But I bet Diana is going to win, with how she is so good at everything!"

Sucy isn't all that worried about getting hit in the crossfire, as she poked her head out from behind the cover to observe Chloe and Diana fighting.

"As much as it is hard for anyone to believe, Miss Perfect Cabbage won't win this one..." The puce-haired girl informed.

"Huh?" Akko did not understand why Sucy made that claim. She poked her head out of cover out of curiosity. "Why did you think Diana is going to...lose...this...one...?"

It quickly became apparent why Sucy said so. Just a minute into the fight, Diana is already showing signs of fatigue, with her left hand swinging her wand just barely fast enough to intercept and deflect Chloe's magic bolts, whereas Chloe looks like she could keep this up for much longer. In addition, Diana is also starting to get pushed back a step for every magic bolt that she deflects.

Another minute into the fight, and Diana has become even more fatigued, with some of the magic bolts becoming so poorly deflected that they barely clear her body. Her right hand is also clutching her chest as her breathing became labored. Diana's expression went from that of anger to that of panic.

"There is something other than her attitude that Miss Perfect Cabbage isn't so perfect at..." Sucy pointed out as she continued to observe the fight.

Diana is backed into a wall as Chloe kept up with the assault. Diana struggled to continue deflecting magic bolts, until she couldn't keep up anymore as she completely fails to deflect one, which blasted her wand out of her hand.

"I win, Cavendish..." Chloe gloated about her victory as she kept her wand aimed at Diana. "What do you have to say about this?"

Diana didn't respond to that. She soon collapsed onto her knees, as her breathing became more labored than before.

"What's the matter, Cabbage-dish?" Chloe, having no clue what is going on with Diana, taunted her. "Need to catch a breath?"

All of a sudden, another magic bolt came from another direction and blasted Chloe's wand out of her hand.

That magic bolt was fired by Professor Nelson, who held her wand as though it is a handgun.

"Miss Dubois, what the hell are you doing?!" Nelson yelled at Chloe as she lowered her wand and approached the former French bully. "And what is going on with Miss Cavendish?!"

"Diana tried to attack the Red Coven, but then Chloe stepped in to stop her..." Someone in the cafeteria filled the Broom Flight instructor in with what happened. "A fight ensued, and Chloe actually beat Diana. But then Diana suddenly collapsed and started gasping for air..."

Nelson turned to glance at Diana, seeing the ace student non-verbally pleading for help while still gasping.

"That is true, professor." Chloe admitted. Since she was caught red handed, she figured she might as well tell the truth.

Nelson turned toward Chloe and glared at her, sending her the message that she should shut up, which Chloe obeyed.

"Miss Dubois," Nelson said to Chloe as she then helped Diana up, putting the ace student's left hand over her shoulders. "head to the headmistress's office and await further instructions, while I take Miss Cavendish to the infirmary."

...

**Faerie workers' bathroom**

**Later that night...**

Once the matter was brought to the attention of Headmistress Holbrooke, Chloe ended up getting a detention which she will have to serve by cleaning the faerie workers' bathroom for the next seven days. Unfortunately, since Deputy Headmistress Finneran happened to be in the headmistress's office when Chloe was brought there, Sarah and Elfriede ended up getting the same detention just for being in the same Coven as Chloe, as per Finneran's policy of punishing an entire Coven for one member's transgression. Which meant that by the time their detention ends next Saturday, the Beige Coven will have only half a day to prepare for the banquet with Appleton Academy next Sunday night.

Nelson had also added that, according to witness reports, it is technically Diana who started the fight by attempting to forcefully take Shiny Rod from Akko, and Chloe is merely trying to stop her (unaware that Chloe did it out of her personal grudge against Diana), so Diana should be punished too. But Finneran vetoed giving Diana detention not because the fight had put the ace student in the infirmary for the rest of the day, but rather that she simply _refused_ to believe Diana would do something so irrational ("Despite having almost the entire academy witnessing it?!" Nelson had pointed out).

And so, the Beige Coven found themselves in the faerie workers' bathroom, serving their detention by cleaning it alongside the Red and Green Covens (for just this night, as the Reds and Greens' detention ends tonight).

"All this while that damned Cabbage gets off Scot-free - pun not intended - and gets to chill out in the infirmary." Amanda, standing on top of the troll bathtub, brought it up as she pitied the Beige Coven girls, who had to serve the same detention as she, her Coven mates, and the Red Coven did, but for an entire week. "Bitchface Finneran sure is a bitch, right?"

Chloe then kicked a water bucket like a football into a wall, hard enough that both the bucket and wall deformed on impact. "That Irish Sac A Merde!" She then cursed.

"I just fixed that bucket, Chloe!" Sarah complained to her friend. "Now there is a wall to fix as well!"

Elfriede, on the other hand, just gave an awkward shrug to Teresa - who was assigned by her mother to fill in for Diana in overseeing the detention, a task she wasn't thrilled to be given. Teresa did heard clearly that Chloe just insulted her mother, and she responded by actually scoffing at it and saying that the insult "wasn't powerful enough". Apparently, she hates her mother just as much as most of Luna Nova's students do.

At the same time, the Red and Green Covens are busy scrubbing the troll bathtub - Red Coven handling the outside and Green Coven handling the inside.

"I never knew Diana was actually sick..." Akko muttered.

"Respiratory illness, to be exact." Sucy told her. "Miss Perfect Cabbage can't perform anything even remotely close to a workout. Her lungs just couldn't handle anything faster than normal rates of breathing."

Akko started pondering. "Could that be why she wanted to claim Shiny Rod so badly? So she can cure her illness?"

_"No."_ Shiny Rod, which Akko decided to bring with her just in case, cut in. _"Her obsession with me is for one reason only: her 'mommy issues'. Otherwise, she wouldn't have tried to take me by force yesterday."_

"Then how bad was her 'mommy issue' that she would risk her life just to get you?"

_"I don't know the details, but I can tell that it is _very_ bad."_

"As bad as the issue between Amanda's broom and you?"

_"_Don't_ ever talk to me about that broom."_

Sucy glanced at Shiny Rod for a bit. "Not as bad as between those two sapient items, I guess..."

"Your problem, Shiny Rod." Amanda, still standing at the top of the troll bathtub, shrugged.

_"And stop calling me that!"_

* * *

I realized that I haven't been using Chloe much despite having billed her as one of the main characters of this story, so this chapter is written to give her more time in the spotlight.

Poor Diana. Turns out that she also has a respiratory illness on top of her mommy issues. Our favorite Scottish Cabbage sure gets the short end of the stick when handled by some LWA fanfic writers, huh? Makes you just want to give her a hug despite her unhealthy obsession with wanting to claim Shiny Rod...

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	20. Week Two Begins

_"Remember this: only with understanding can the Seven Stars of Jennifer the Great be unlocked..."_

_Akko blinked in confusion. She found herself in the middle of the black void once again, and that was the first thing she heard._

_That voice, however, wasn't Shiny Chariot's. In fact, it wasn't a voice Akko recognize at all._

_"What are the Seven Stars of Jennifer the Great? Do they have something to do with the Shiny Rod?"_

_Akko didn't get any answers for her questions. At that moment, a bright white glow erupted from nowhere and started to engulf the black void._

_"Wait! What about Shiny Chariot?! Does she have anything to do with the Stars?! Just who are you?!"_

_..._

**Red Coven's Dorm**

"Wait!"

Akko soon found herself waking up in her bunk bed at her Luna Nova dorm.

"Good morning, sleepyhead..." Sucy greeted Akko. For once, the puce-haired girl seems to be looking up something on the internet using Lotte's crystal ball, probably without Lotte's permission, seeing that Wispy doesn't seem too thrilled about Sucy's browsing session. Then again, Lotte is still asleep, so it's not like Sucy could've asked for permission. "You're early today... Had a nightmare?"

Akko blinked. "No. I think it was something about the Seven Stars of Jennifer again..." She said. "What time is it right now?"

Sucy tapped once on the crystal ball. "Six-thirty in the morning. One and a half hour until first class of the day begins."

"That early?!" Akko exclaimed.

"Some dream, no?" Sucy said as she continued browsing through whatever she is viewing on the crystal ball. "Too bad the talking staff won't spill anything about it..."

_"It's not that I don't want to say anything about it."_ Shiny Rod, which Akko placed next to the bunk bed in the previous night, responded.

"Then why aren't you saying anything about it?" Akko asked.

_"Because, to put it in your modern day vernacular, my programming forbids me from directly helping my wielders in their quests for the Seven Stars."_

"Why not?"

_"I guess it's because the Seven Stars can only be found through my wielders' understanding the value of the Stars on their own, and just straight up telling them will defeat that purpose."_

"Oh."

Sucy scoffed at what she heard. "Such a simple explanation..." She said, turning toward Akko. "If Shiny Chariot really was the last person to have took part in this... quest for the so-called Seven Stars, I guess she must've failed somewhere down the line. Otherwise, Akko, you wouldn't be holding the Shiny Rod right now..."

"Say, Sucy..." Akko suddenly changed the topic as she got off her bunk bed. "What were you doing with Annabel's crystal ball?"

Sucy seemed to widen her eyes in panic, as she quickly turned back toward the crystal ball, and tapped rapidly and randomly on it. "Just, um, checking out the Luna Nova News Network's blog..." She then calmly claimed.

Wispy blew a raspberry (or as close to it as a will-o-wisp can try to) at Sucy for some reason.

"Current news..." Sucy begins reading what is displayed on the crystal ball.

Akko made her way toward Sucy to see what is displayed on the crystal ball.

_Top story: due to budget restrictions, the 60th Anniversary Luna Nova - Appleton Friendship Ball will be held overlapping with this year's Luna Nova Alumni Homecoming Party. No words on Appleton's alumni as of yet._

_Other stories:_

_Rockstar Witch Miss Marjolaine expected to attend the Alumni Homecoming Party. Dorlin, Vice Chancellor of the East Morgiana Republic, will be attending as well. P.S.: Marjolaine and Dorlin were in the same Coven in their student years._

_Director-General of the WHO, who (pun not intended) is also a Luna Nova alumni, may have something personal she wants to settle in the Alumni Homecoming Party._

_Ace student Diana Cavendish revealed to have a respiratory disease!_

_Author of world-renowned franchise _Nightfall_ turned out to be a Luna Nova student! "How long has she been hiding among us?"_

_MORE STORIES..._

"As you can see, it's all just tabloid..." Sucy dully remarked. "Five minutes of my life wasted on all this..."

"That's too bad." Akko said.

Wispy let out an unamused squeak, which for some reason is directed at Sucy rather than Akko.

...

**Magic Linguistics Class**

Later, the Red Coven went straight to class after getting themselves ready for the day.

The Red Coven arrived at the classroom without a hitch. Though they still have to wait with the other students as Finneran hasn't arrived yet. It seemed unusual for Finneran, who Amanda had called a "control freak" before, to be late for even a second.

Thankfully, the wait is very brief, and Finneran soon showed up. Though the Deputy Headmistress/ Magical Linguistics professor seems to have stopped right outside the classroom, wanting to finish whatever discussion she was having with Professor Badcock at the moment.

Akko couldn't hear what the faculty members' conversation is about, but she did hear the words "dragon alphabet" in it.

The conversation is soon finished, as Professor Badcock left the scene for elsewhere. With that settled, Finneran entered the classroom in the same strict and calculated manner as she did in last week's class.

"Pardon me for being late, class..." Finneran addressed every students in the classroom. "I was having a very urgent conversation with Professor Badcock." She then placed her textbooks on the teacher's desk, and looked at a particular student. "Are you alright, Miss Cavendish?"

Everyone looked - and Chloe glared - at Diana who sat in the exact same position as last week, as are her Coven mates Hannah and Barbara.

Diana coughed once into her hand. "I will be fine-" She momentarily stopped as she realized she was speaking with her natural Scottish accent. "I will be fine, Professor. Thank you for asking." She restarted with her forced English accent.

Diana momentarily glared at Akko. The blonde's icy blue eyes stared straight into the brunette's ruby red, sending shivers down her spine.

"Now, shall we begin?" Finneran then said, unknowingly interrupting the standoff.

And so Magic Linguistics class for the day started and ended without a hitch. Though Akko spent the entirety of the class being crept out by Diana's ice cold glare.

...

**Potions Brewing and Handling Class**

All of the students arrived at the Potions lab in time, but Professor Lukic said she had to cancel the day's Potions Brewing and Handling Class at the last second due to an urgent matter. What that urgent matter is, she refused to say anything except that it's a confidential matter that Headmistress Holbrooke doesn't want the students to know about.

The entire class spent the two hours of the cancelled class discussing to each other what that confidential matter could've been. Some, on the other hand, pointed out that it was a good thing Lukic had cancelled the class, as they'd otherwise have to breathe potion fumes for two hours, which would have been especially _bad_ for Diana's respiratory illness (forgetting that she had used a shield spell in last week's class to shield herself from the fumes).

During the whole commotion about the faculty's urgent matters (and Diana's respiratory illness), Akko failed to noticed that Sucy has used a potion to turn her ponytail into a leaf...

...

**Magic Numerology Class**

Professor Badcock arrived in the classroom on time, and started Magic Numerology Class without mentioning whatever urgent matters it is that Finneran had talked to her about earlier.

As with last week's Magic Numerology Class, the Red Coven girls are barely paying any attention due to how boring it is. Sucy is once again flipping through her exotic potions ingredient handbook under the table (albeit a different handbook this time). Lotte _looked like_ she is paying attention and taking notes, but it's actually just lines after lines of her name "Liselotte Jansson" which, due to the Curse of Annabel Creme, became lines after lines of "Annabel Creme" instead.

Akko, on the other hand, is able to force herself to stay awake thanks to experience from last week's class. She pretended to be taking down notes so Professor Badcock wouldn't notice her not paying attention. But it is still very boring for her.

Akko decided to kill her time by looking around the classroom at her fellow classmates. Avery seems to be writing more often on her pocket notepad than her notebook (_What's in that notepad?_ Akko thought). Gaelle is taking down notes on her notebook endlessly, somehow without looking at the blackboard even once _(How does she know what to write if she doesn't ever look up?_). Chloe is gritting her teeth at how Diana exudes that aristocratic air even when she is just taking down notes (_Everything Diana does feels aristocratic..._). Constanze (_Huh? How come I didn't notice her here last week?_) seems to be, instead of writing down her notes into a notebook, typing it into a tablet. A girl with blonde hair and a pair of headphones is standing just outside the classroom, watching Akko and her friends...

Wait...

A blonde girl with a pair of headphones?

Akko looked at the blonde girl that is standing right outside the classroom. While many girls in Luna Nova or even England, for that matter, have blonde hair, Akko knew of only one who wore a headphone like that. That blonde girl may be wearing a Luna Nova uniform, but there is no mistaking that headphone she is wearing...

That is Mary-Ann Lait, the previous Annabel Creme and creator of the _Nightfall_ franchise.

After what Mary-Ann had put Lotte through last Saturday, Akko wanted to just stand up from her seat, run right out of the classroom and strangle the former author right then and there, detentions be damned...

"Oh my!" Professor Badcock suddenly exclaimed. "Miss Logisdottir has burst into flames _again_!"

Everyone in the classroom stopped what they were doing, and turned toward Sola Logisdottir of the Leaf Coven, who is indeed, and literally, on fire.

Luckily, Sola's Coven mates, Rajani and Rashmi Patil quickly put the fire out by dousing her with a fire suppression spell (which looked and sounded like a fire extinguisher, for some reason). Judging by how casually the Patil twins did it, and how Sola seems to be in more of an inconvenience than a panic, this apparently has happened several times in the past. Sola sneezed a bit, causing the fire to immediately reignite, only to be doused again by Rajani (or is it Rashmi?).

Akko blinked. While she has seen Sola a couple of times in the past seven days, this is the first time she saw the "onion-head" spontaneously burst into flames.

Diana similarly looks confused about the matter.

With that thing with Sola handled, Akko turned back toward the classroom entrance... to find that Mary-Ann has already disappeared.

"Well, uh, thank you, Miss Patil and... Miss Patil, for keeping the situation under control..." Professor Badcock thanked the Patil twins. "In any case... No assignments this week, so you can prepare for the Ball this coming Sunday. With that said, class dismissed."

As soon as Professor Badcock has finished her announcement, Akko quickly bolted out of the classroom with lightning speed.

"Akko!" Lotte called out to her Coven mate.

...

**Luna Nova corridors**

Akko can't believe it...

That girl, Mary-Ann Lait, actually had the guts to come all the way to Luna Nova to stalk Lotte. The brunette wanted to hunt down the former author and make her pay for what she did to Lotte.

Before she knew it, Akko found herself bolting right out of the classroom to pursue Mary-Ann. However, there was no trace of the former author anywhere in sight.

"Kuso!" Akko cursed as she stamped her foot on the floor in frustration, forgetting that as a witch, her stamping is strong enough to crack the marble that made up the floor.

"Akko!" Lotte followed her out soon after. "What's wrong? Why did you suddenly run out?"

"I thought I saw Annabel Creme - the previous one - standing right here just now, watching us..." Akko explained. "She was also wearing a Luna Nova uniform..."

Lotte looked around the corridor, just as the other students begin to file out of the classroom. "I don't see her anywhere..."

"She got away..." Akko said.

"Who got away?" Sucy suddenly appeared behind Akko and asked.

"Mary-Ann got away." Akko told Sucy. "You know? The previous Annabel Creme? We met her at the _Nightfall_ Trivia Quiz last Saturday?"

"I still don't know what you are talking about..." Sucy responded. Her one exposed eye stared at the leaf that Akko's ponytail was transformed into, which Akko is still oblivious to.

Akko clenched her fist. "Never mind. I'll deal with her later." Akko released her clenched fist. "Come on. Let's go to the cafeteria."

"Not so fast, you three." Professor Badcock suddenly appeared behind the Red Coven, sending shivers down Akko's and Lotte's spines. "I need to have some words with you."

_What did we do this time...?!_ Akko mentally lamented.

And so the Red Coven girls are dragged back into the classroom by Professor Badcock...

If any one of the Red Coven girls have stayed outside for one more second, they'd have noticed that one of their classmates who left the classroom just now is a blonde girl wearing a pair of headphones, and she was only inside the classroom during the last few seconds of Magic Numerology Class. Said "classmate" then doubled back to continue her observation of the student who she passed on the Curse of Annabel Creme to...

* * *

Annabel Creme/ Mary-Ann Lait, what were you up to...?

Anyway, a new week begins for Akko's life at Luna Nova, and with that, more questions showed up that are in need of answers.

Here's a secret: I hid something in this chapter that would foreshadow a big reveal later on. Try to guess what it is. You may give out your answers in the comments section, but I will neither confirm nor deny if your answer is anywhere close to being correct, since it would just spoil the aforementioned big reveal.

Also, see if you can guess how I came up with the last names of Rajani, Rashmi, and Sola (who are all Background Witches). There are Easter Eggs behind both of them.

Before I end this chapter's Afterwords, I'd like to announce something...

Getting stuck in my house for an entire month due to the quarantine has made me, like a lot of people around the world, a bit stir-crazy. So stir-crazy that I actually came up with the concept for a piece of original fiction. It's basically a magical girl/spy fiction hybrid revolving around this witch who's also an MI-6 agent, and her job is basically the usual James Bond stuff plus magic (and minus the boning, I might add). I call this original fiction _Modern Witchcraft_. I was planning on releasing its first chapter after this one, but it might take a while to tidy it up before I get it posted (on AO3, as Fanfiction don't accept original fiction, and I don't plan on registering an account in Fictionpress).

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	21. Preparing For the Party

**Luna Nova cafeteria**

"Heh, Professor Badcock is actually a _Nightfall_ fan..."

Sucy mused about how Professor Badcock had called the Red Coven girls back into the classroom after class has ended...just so she can ask "Annabel Creme" for an autograph, without the rest of the class learning about her being a _Nightfall_ fan.

Lotte didn't want to cash in on Annabel Creme's fame, or even literally _be_ Annabel Creme, but she has no say on the matter due to the Curse of Annabel Creme, so she figured she might as well make the awkward moment easier and autograph on Professor Badcock's copy of _Nightfall_ Volume 366 (_Did she attend the _Nightcon_ last Saturday?_ Lotte wondered).

In the process of processing the fact that Professor Badcock is a _Nightfall_ fan, Akko has completely forgotten about having seen Mary-Ann Lait, the previous author of the books, just minutes ago.

"I guess everyone have their own embarrassing secrets." Akko quipped, as she munched on her pickled plums after having just finished her lunch.

"I wonder if that applies to Miss Perfect Cabbage as well..." Sucy added as she stared over Akko's shoulder at Diana, who is in the background directing several other students in setting up the decorations meant for the coming 60th Anniversary Luna Nova-Appleton Friendship Ball/ Luna Nova Alumni Homecoming Party fusion event.

Of course, Hannah and Barbara are standing by Diana's sides, making things harder for the students by continuously pointing out that something is "too ugly" or" too cheap".

"They're already preparing for the event?" Akko said, taking note of the decorating, and how the news network ran by the Yellow Coven are already covering the decorating (from a safe distance away from the Blue Coven).

"It's two large events fused into one." Lotte informed. "With the boys from Appleton Academy, as well as Luna Nova alumni from all walks of life, all coming to Luna Nova, everyone are trying their best to make an impressive display."

Wispy squeaked in a way as though reminding its master.

"Oh, and on a very limited budget too." Lotte then added.

"Very limited budget, it seems..." Sucy remarked, as she glanced down at her meal, which consisted of a small lump of mashed potatoes, a few pieces of lettuce, exactly three cherry tomatoes, and a small glass of water, exactly the same as what Akko and Lotte just had. "This is the only variation of lunch they have today. Talk about stringy..."

The puce-haired girl then looked at Akko's jar of pickled plums.

Akko noticed Sucy looking at her jar of pickled plums. "Want some?" Akko asked as she held out a single pickled plum for Sucy.

"No thanks." Sucy declined.

Akko blinked. "Then why were you looking at my Umeboshi like that?

"Just curious as to why you always eat exactly five pieces whenever you decide to snack on them. And always after lunch and dinner, at that..." Sucy pointed out.

Akko replaced the lid on the jar of pickled plums, and then scratched her head in regards to what Sucy said. "I don't know? It's how I have been eating them in the past 10 years. My parents told me to eat my Umeboshi like that. So ask them?"

Sucy didn't respond to that. She narrowed her eyes as if she just figured out something...

"What in the Nines' name were you girls doing?!"

The Red Coven turned their attention to Diana as she suddenly exclaimed.

As it turns out, Amanda is also leading her own decorating crew (which, aside from Constanze and Jasminka, seemed to consist entirely of Luna Nova's American students), who have somehow brought in an entire set of loudspeakers and what looked like one of those fancy music players used in nightclubs. And that appears to be what Diana is exclaiming about.

"I'm making the coming party more lively than what you posh, stiff-lipped Brits have in mind. What else?" Amanda sarcastically responded. "Oh wait! You're not a posh, stiff-lipped Brit, Cabbage. You're a posh, stiff-lipped _Scot_."

Diana seems offended by that statement, as she narrowed her eyebrows. "Don't. Call. Me. That." She growled.

"Don't call you what?" Amanda pretended to ask. "A posh, stiffed-lipped Scot?" She then snickered.

Heather Lockhart stepped forward to Amanda's right. "Oh, ye gon' need to wear a darn kilt an' play a darn bagpipe, or ye no a true Scotswoman." She then mocked Diana by putting up a Scottish accent that's _even more_ atrocious than the one Amanda put up after the first Broom Flying Class last week. Heather immediately started laughing out loud as soon as she finished her mocking.

A chorus of laughter quickly erupted among Amanda's side of students. And some of the students from Diana's side too. Though some gasped in shock at the fact that Heather so casually insulted Diana, including Heather's own Coven mates, Daisy and Rosie.

Diana, on the other hand, is trying her hardest to suppress her anger, as indicated by her grinding her teeth and clenching her fists.

"You bloody Americans should shut it." Hannah stepped forward to speak in Diana's behalf. "The 60th Anniversary Luna Nova-Appleton Friendship Ball and Alumni Homecoming Party are formal events, not a bloody disco party."

"And turn off that bloody music while you're at it." Barbara added, referring to the song being played from the music player that Amanda's crew brought in.

"Hey! Don't you dare insult AC/DC's _Shoot To Thrill_!" Amanda argued. "It's a masterpiece! It even got featured in the first _Avengers_ movie!"

"I don't care. It's not posh, and it has no place in formal events." Hannah argued back.

"You American witches and your love for muggle pop culture." Barbara said as she placed her right hand over her face and sighed.

"Oh yeah? Watch this, bitches!" Amanda then flipped the Blue Coven her middle fingers.

"Why you...!" Hannah and Barbara said in unison, having not taken kindly to being flipped off by the American redhead.

Diana raised a hand to silence everyone. She then stepped forward and flipped her hair before addressing Amanda. "These music genres you call Rock are barbaric. If you insist on having music playing in the background during the banquet, might I suggest playing something by Ed Sheeran instead?"

Amanda scoffed. "So you're into modern music too, Cabbage. I thought you were all-"

"Don't. Call. Me. That." Diana interrupted Amanda with a scowl.

At that distance, the ace student's scowl is enough to make the redhead reel back in intimidation. "Ugh. This isn't over yet, you Blue bitches."

Constanze then directed a grunt at the Blue Coven, who don't understand what she is saying and made no response.

Amanda and her friends, however, did seem to understand. Amanda and Bridget both stared wide-eyed at the German mute.

"Even if England and Parker are absolutely intolerable, there's still no need for such a vulgar word." Heather informed Constanze with a shrug.

Constanze let out another grunt.

Whatever it is that Constanze meant to say, Amanda let out a laugh in response to it. "'They don't understand anyway.' Good one, Conz!"

Hannah and Barbara remain confused, as are the rest of Diana's crew. Diana herself, however, did get the intent.

"O'Neil, you were able to translate Albretschberger's grunts into whole sentences?" Diana asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah. Conz here has a Chewbacca thing going on with the way she speaks. Why'd you care?" Amanda answered casually.

Diana knew Amanda was using something from muggle pop culture as a comparison, but she never followed pop culture of any kind, much less muggle ones, and never understood why some witches like Amanda, or Mary Robinson from the Purple Coven, liked them so much.

"It means that Conz 'language' sounds like complete gibberish to the untrained ear, in case you don't know." Amanda clarified.

"I see." Diana said.

"This is an important conversation right now?" Erika Mendez from the Lemon Coven popped out from among Diana's crew to point out.

Amanda responded with a shrug.

Meanwhile, the Red Coven who watched the argument and later conversation from a distance at the table where they sat, turned to look at each other.

"Typical US vs UK debate..." Sucy shrugged.

"I never knew Constanze's grunts were actually her way of speaking..." Akko stated.

"I always knew Constanze spoke like that. I just never knew _what_ she was saying..." Lotte informed.

"Yo, Reds!" Amanda suddenly called out to the Red Coven after Diana and her crew had went back to their side of the decorating. "Wanna come and give me a hand?"

* * *

My apologies for yet another shitty chapter. If anything, this chapter could be _even shittier_ than chapter 16 (The Bigger Picture) because two months of being stuck inside my house due to the nationwide quarantine (because of, as you all know, COVID-19) has confused the hell out of my brain, leading to me somehow contracting ADHD which in turn led to me having a _very severe_ case of Writer's Block as well as getting easily distracted by just about everything else (Discord, Reddit, other fics on AO3, etc...).

I wanted to get this chapter out of Writer's Block Hell ASAP, but coupled with the aforementioned ADHD, it led to this chapter being quite possibly one of the _shittiest_ thing I've ever written. The only shittier thing I ever wrote in my life is a "What If?" post in a LWA Discord server that contained the word "date-rape" which resulted in me getting the ban hammer, and I'm not even sure why I thought that was a good idea back then. For a taste of irony: that was the same LWA Discord server that inspired me to write _Father_ (A LWA one-shot on AO3)

COVID-19 sure messed up the life of the entire world's population...

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	22. No Doubt

**Luna Nova cafeteria**

When people say that you can distract yourself from whatever is on your mind by doing something else, they were kind of right.

Between Diana's obsession with the Shiny Rod, and Mary-Ann Lait coming to Luna Nova to spy on Lotte days after inflicting her with the Curse of Annabel Creme, Akko hasn't been able to focus much on anything else, but found a great distraction from those two matter in helping the Green Coven redecorate the cafeteria for the banquet in the coming Sunday.

Lotte and Sucy joined in for the same reason. Though what would be on Sucy's mind other than mushrooms and poisons, nobody knows.

For now, the Red Coven girls focused on painting an unfinished banner that will be hung later. Akko, to nobody's surprise, painted a chibi representation of Shiny Chariot standing on a broom in one corner of the banner; Lotte painted a lit candle that looked exactly like the one from the cover of _Nightfall_, albeit with Wispy in place of the candle flame (although that one was painted in by Wispy himself), with a tiny speech bubble pointing to it saying "Hello"; and Sucy painted mushrooms that are meant to be growing out of the last "E" in the banner's "WELCOME"...

Lotte and Wispy both squeaked in surprise when they noticed that Sucy's right hand isn't even attached to her wrist, and appears to be painting the banner independently of the puce-haired girl.

"In case you are wondering, even I don't know how I could do this..." Sucy said as her left hand detached and went off on its own to push a fresh can of red paint over, spooking a few other students in the process. "And I don't plan on finding out how..."

Akko is most certainly surprised by Sucy's hands detaching and moving on their own, though she isn't spooked by it. "Hope you don't mind me asking, but can you... detach your head too?"

Sucy shot Akko a "Seriously?" glare in response. "No, but I can detach my left eye. Though for what reason you would need me to do it?"

"Nothing. Just asking." Akko said before going back to painting the banner.

Not much else happened after that as everyone focused on doing their part in the redecorating, with the notable exception being that Abigail King seems to have taken an interest to Sucy's independently moving hands, as she stopped what she was doing to take pictures of the hands with her mobile phone.

The Purple Coven passed by the Red Coven, and Akko overheard them having a conversation about something.

"Do you think Andrew Hanbridge is coming to the banquet this Sunday?" Avery asked her coven mates.

"Andrew Hanbridge, the star student of Appleton Academy, who is also the son of Senator Paul Hanbridge?" Mary responded, taking interest of the question.

"I really hope Andrew does come~" Blair said, seemingly daydreaming about the subject and being smitten by the image in it. "He must be really handsome, and I'm looking forward to meeting him~"

"Blair, you're getting... wet... again." Avery, rolling her eyes, informed her blonde coven mate.

The Purple Coven soon walked out of range, rendering their conversation inaudible to Akko. Akko decided that it isn't important right now, and continued with painting the banner...

"YOU BITCH!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned toward the source of the sudden vulgar outburst.

The outburst came from Elsa Andersen of Light Yellow Coven, who just had a whole bucket of black paint spilled on her, accusing Hannah and Barbara of committing the deed.

"Watch _your_ language, Elsa~" Hannah responded with a mocking tone.

"Because that is so _unfitting_ for a princess~" Barbara also mocked.

Elsa groaned furiously as she wiped some of the paint off her face. "How dare you use levitation magic to dump paint all over me!" She then removed her wand from her wand holster.

Hannah and Barbara responded by laughing at Elsa.

"Perhaps you should just _Let It Go_, princess~" Hannah giggled as she told the paint-covered student that.

"You should just go _build a snowman_, because that's what you're best at~" Barbara similarly giggled as she said so.

Elsa, boiling with anger, tightened her grip on her wand so much that she is actually crushing its handle with the enhanced strength that all witches have. "You lousy whor-"

"What in the Nines' name is going on?" "What the hell is going on here?" Diana and Amanda showed up at the same time to interrupt the commotion. The two then glanced at each other for the sheer coincidence in when they responded to the incident.

"_They_ happened to me!" Elsa turned to, and informed, Diana and Amanda, while pointing an accusatory finger at Hannah and Barbara.

Diana looked over to Hannah and Barbara, who just stood there, whistling while looking away from Elsa. The ace student looked like she is doubting that her coven mates would do what Elsa just accused them of doing.

Amanda let out a groan, though one that indicates that this isn't the first time for her. "Yeah, I get what happened, and that the two of them should be taught a lesson or two..." She told Elsa. "But in the meantime, you should go wash off the paint before they dry..."

Elsa is still furious about what Hannah and Barbara did to her, and that Diana didn't believe her. But she acknowledged what Amanda said about the paint, as she then stomped her way toward the cafeteria entrance. All the while Hannah and Barbara snickered at her.

Elsa suddenly stopped in her tracks as she then turned around and used magic to levitate the paint bucket, which she then hurled toward Hannah.

Hannah, who wasn't expecting that, took the flying paint bucket right to her head, hard enough to knock her off her feet but didn't knock her out.

Barbara stopped snickering and started panicking when the situation escalated to having violence. She watched as Elsa used magic to conjure snow that then filled the paint bucket to give it more mass...

"I'll make a snowman out of _you_."

Elsa then hurled the snow-filled paint bucket at Barbara, who would not be able to dodge in time due to how fast the paint bucket is flying toward her.

Diana quickly raised her wand in an attempt to intercept the paint bucket and save her coven mates.

Amanda raised her wand too, if only to stop the further escalation of the situation.

"_**Scrylla**_"

...

It went so quickly, nobody realized what happened...

As far as Amanda is concerned, she beat Diana to casting a spell meant to stop Elsa's paint bucket from hitting Hannah and Barbara. But in a moment not thought out due to the urgency, she cast the first spell to come to her mind, which happened to be the Time Stopping Spell.

Everyone and everything in the cafeteria are frozen in time. Elsa's paint bucket frozen inches away from Barbara's face, Barbara herself (and Hannah) frozen with panic written all over their face, Diana frozen in the middle of casting her spell, and everyone else frozen in the midst of watching the incident unfold.

Amanda, the only one person who isn't frozen in time, looked around with amazement, then at her wand which is glowing a bright green and has magic energy pulsating from its forked tip.

"Huh. How about that?" The redhead mused.

She looked around the cafeteria once more, and then came up with an idea. Reaching into her pocket, Amanda fished out the iPhone she has been using to listen to music.

Upon confirming that the iPhone isn't frozen in time, a cheeky smile formed on Amanda's lips as she then selected a song.

"Time to have some Quicksilver-type fun."

And so, with _Just A Girl_ by No Doubt playing from her iPhone, Amanda went on to prank as many people as she can while everyone else are frozen in time.

Amanda's prank on her time-frozen fellow students began with her taking Erika Mendez's ribbon off her hair and then tossing it aside. Then Amanda moved on to place a palm-sized rubber Black Widow Spider (that she has been carrying for some reason) over Rita Vrataski's face, mimicking the face-hugging creatures from a certain movie franchise about killer aliens. The redhead then went on to undoing Verde Shidariza's twin-drills, sticking marshmallows (that are pilfered from a bowl Aileen Reed is setting up) on Sola Logisdottir's hair, doodling "landing strip" on Verochka Alianovna's forehead, wrapping a length of rope around Carmen Rodriguez's legs, messing with the Yellow Coven (who just happened upon the incident) by putting the lens cap back on Joanna's camera and writing "Diana Cavendish is a slut" on Kimberly's notepad, then unscrewing the receiver of Wangari's microphone, painting the iconic face paint of American music band, KISS, on Hannah's and Barbara's faces (after shoving the paint bucket away), going all the way to the washroom to grab a bucket of water and then dump it over Diana, and then there are some that went by so quickly that Amanda didn't even remember doing them...

All those pranks took some effort as Amanda has to keep holding on to her wand with one hand to maintain the Time Stopping Spell, but she eventually did them all without issue. Now to end the Time Stopping Spell...

Amanda stopped herself from doing that just yet. She then removed Elsa's wand and put it back into her wand holster, and then went to move the paint bucket away from Barbara and placed it on the floor.

With that done, Amanda proceed to dispel the Time Stopping Spell.

Once the flow of time resumed, some of Amanda's handiwork immediately took effect, causing their targets a variety of humorous annoyance.

Erika noticed the disappearance of her hair ribbon and found it having somehow been thrown against Bice's face all in a split second. Rita let out a terrified shriek as she slapped the rubber spider off her face. Verde expressed displeasure at her favorite twin-drill hairdo coming loose. Rajani and Rashmi both groaned upon noticing the marshmallows in Sola's hair. Carmen fell flat on her face due to her legs being tied up. Joanna snapped a few more photos before realizing that the lens cap has somehow placed itself back on her camera, Kimberly stopped writing and seemed to gasp at the sudden appearance of the incredibly vulgar sentence on her notepad, and Wangari wondering why her microphone seemed to have suddenly lost its receiver...

On the other hand, Avery is left wondering why she is suddenly wearing a pair of glasses, while Gaelle found herself suddenly without her glasses.

Elsa looked on with confusion as the paint bucket she levitated and hurled toward Barbara has somehow teleported to a normal position on the floor while her own wand has somehow teleported itself back into her wand holster. "Wh-what...?" She uttered as she processed the events.

Hannah and Barbara are similarly confused as to what happened, though the did sigh in relief as there is no longer a snow-filled paint bucket flying toward their faces. Barbara then helped Hannah get up... only for the duo to scream upon noticing the face paint that had suddenly appeared on their faces (which elicited a cackle from Chloe).

Diana found herself assaulted by a torrent of water followed by a water bucket falling on her head, all before she could register anything.

Perhaps the most confused person in the cafeteria would be Akko. "Uh, Annabel, what just happened?" She asked Lotte.

"I don't know..." Lotte said, not quite as confused as everyone else. "This isn't the first time this has happened, but nobody could tell what was going on..."

Wispy shrugged as he shook his head.

If Sucy is confused about what just went on, then it is hidden very well by her indifference. Though her indifference is broken immediately when she laid her eyes on Akko and Lotte, and can't help but snicker at the sight.

"What?" Akko and Lotte both wondered what could Sucy be snickering about, unaware that whatever happened to the rest of the cafeteria, it got them too.

Akko's short ponytail is gone, and her half-bangs has been replaced by full bangs that makes her look like someone of Diana's level of smart and charming (which is, suffice to say, _extremely unfitting_ of her). Lotte's smooth pixie hair cut turned into a delinquent-ish mess of hair strands that looked like something right out of a _shonen_ anime (which is also _extremely unfitting_ of her).

The only people in the cafeteria other than Amanda who aren't confused at all are Constanze and Jasminka.

Constanze approached Amanda and directed a grunt toward her.

"Yeah, I stopped time again and messed with just about everyone while I'm at it..." Amanda answered as she then glanced at Bianca Rosetti complaining about her bowl of fruit punch getting contaminated by Aileen's marshmallows. "What about it?"

Constanze responded with another grunt.

"Yeah, I did that too. So what?" Amanda answered nonchalantly.

"Did what?" Diana suddenly approached and confronted Amanda, while Hannah and Barbara are behind her, trying to wipe the face paint off their faces to no avail. "I guessed you have something to do with... all these..." Diana continued as she took note of the state everyone in the cafeteria has been left in. "But were you just taking about this?" She finished, emphasizing on the fact that she is soaking wet from head to toe.

"Yeah, that too." Amanda answered with a smug. "You know, this look kind of suits you, Cabbage..."

"Don't. Call. Me. That." Diana growled in response to Amanda's nickname for her.

"Sheesh, I wonder how long you had that stick jammed up there..." Amanda said as she then walked past the Blue Coven, gesturing at Constanze and Jasminka to follow her, then at her redecorating crew to continue their work without her. "And now that I think of it, maybe I should have left it up there, after all..."

Diana raised her eyebrows. "Where is 'up there', and what stick were you talking about?" She asked as she eyed Amanda with dissatisfaction, not understanding what the redhead just told her.

Hannah and Barbara, however, did understand it.

"Diana," Hannah informed her. "That's American slang for being stuck up, and..."

"Let's just say Amanda meant what she say in a somewhat literal way..." Barbara added. She then leaned in to whisper to Diana.

What Barbara whispered to her made Diana boil in anger.

"AMANDA O'NEIL! YOU COME BACK HERE RIGHT BLOODY NOW!"

The Green Coven disappeared from sight before Diana could chase after them.

Akko then face-palmed at everything that has just happened. Luna Nova and the world of magic is amazing, alright, just not in the way the websites had hyped it up to be...

* * *

I live! She lives! The _Atsuko Kagari Series_ lives!

So yeah, one thing or another, I was finally able to conquer the Writer's Block that has been plaguing me for over a month...

Anyway, here's the long awaited update to this story. This chapter is just filler for Amanda to do her thing, including... well... taking advantage of Diana...

Amanda: "Well, at least I got to cop a feel of Cabbage's r-"

Diana: "Don't you dare finish that sentence, O'Neil!"

What was I thinking, writing that?

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	23. Crossroads

**Luna Nova corridors**

It is early morning in the second Tuesday of the current semester.

Having just finished her early morning self-studying session in the library, Diana, with her academy-issued broom in one hand, is on her way to the sports field for the day's Broom Flying Class.

Her mind briefly wandered back to the incident in the cafeteria yesterday. On how Elsa accused Hannah and Barbara of dumping paint all over her, how the Norwegian student violently lashed out at the duo, how Amanda accidentally stopped time in the process of intercepting Elsa's attack, how the Irish-American redhead proceed to pull all sorts of pranks on her fellow students...

Diana felt herself boiling with anger at the thought of how Amanda, during the stopped time, had decided to be an opportunist. The nerves of that Amanda O'Neil! Who knows what other ways has she taken advantage of her in in what is essentially a literal instant...

Unfortunately for the ace student, she has no way to prove any of it, which meant that Amanda basically got away with... as Amanda herself put it, "removing the stick that was jammed up there for years"... and could basically keep doing it for as many times as she like, and Diana would never even realize it. Diana hoped that the "stick-removing" was the furthest extent of what Amanda did to her during that instance.

Curse that American delinquent and her American mentality.

She instinctively has to look prim and proper at all times, so Diana forced herself to snuff out the boiling anger, as she perfected her posture and calmly made her way toward the sports field. In contrast, most of her fellow students within the same corridor are running (some appeared to be still chewing their breakfasts) toward wherever their next class will be taking place in. Although it's not that Diana's aristocratic background makes it unbecoming of her to even _think_ of running, but rather that her respiratory illness will prevent her from doing so.

Diana felt it suddenly difficult to breathe, an indication that her respiratory illness is kicking in. She stopped in her tracks, pulled out the inhaler that the academy infirmary insisted on her using since her last visit there, and quickly put it to her mouth and took a puff of it before her breathing could become too labored for her to even stand.

Feeling her breaths becoming steady again, Diana removed the inhaler from her mouth, and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the mouthpiece of the inhaler before putting both items away.

She didn't like the so-called modern technology due to them undermining the ancient traditions of magic. But when it comes to dealing with her respiratory illness, she decided that she is willing to make an exception for her inhaler. Before the inhaler, she had always used a constant stream of magic to suppress her symptoms, and her unexpected magic duel against Chloe made her realize that it is dangerously inefficient and she had to spend the rest of the day in the infirmary just to make sure she doesn't _choke to death_.

The ace student soon noticed that she has stopped next to a cabinet full of photos of previous graduates of Luna Nova starting from the 1900s.

Out of curiosity, she scanned through all of the photos displayed on the cabinet. All of the photos are labelled with the names graduation years of the graduates (and dates of passing for those who have since passed on), which allows current students to identify their predecessors.

Diana easily recognized some of the graduates depicted in the photos.

_Anne Finneran, graduated year 1979._

_Adrien Nelson, graduated year 1979._

Huh. It wouldn't have ever occurred to Diana that Luna Nova's Deputy Headmistress and Broom Flight instructor would contrast each other so much in many ways, especially back when they're still teenagers. Finneran being totally stoic and rigid in her graduation photo reminded Diana of herself (if she's brunette and Irish), but Diana had to force herself not to giggle at the sight of a teenage Nelson performing an American military salute in her graduation photo while still wearing her Luna Nova ceremonial robe complete with witch hat. Nevermind the thought of both Finneran and Nelson being former Red Coven themselves...

Diana then moved on to the next photos displayed on the cabinet.

_Dora Dorlin, graduated year 1978._

_Marjolaine Villard, graduated year 1978._

Diana knew that Vice Chancellor Dorlin of the East Morgiana Republic and Miss Marjolaine the Rockstar Witch were Luna Nova graduates too, having heard about them from the _Luna Nova News Network_. She also recalled that they were two of the Luna Nova alumni that are going to attend the coming Alumni Homecoming Party. As her seniors, Diana has much respect for them, even if her career options are going to be completely different than what they chose for themselves.

Diana continued scanning through the photos of past graduates, and then stopped at one particular name.

_Chariot Du Nord, graduated year 1999._

Chariot Du Nord, the one witch that managed to make herself a celebrity even before graduating. She took the showbiz world by storm with her flashy and extravagant performances as Shiny Chariot, but in the process got herself branded as a heretic by the most hardcore traditionalist families of the wizarding world. Diana can't help but feel sorry for the French performer, but could not express it to anyone as her statement to Atsuko Kagari about Chariot being a fraud would get her labelled as a hypocrite.

Diana continued scanning through the photos. But her mood went from stoic to sour upon laying eyes on one particular photo.

_Bernadette Cavendish, graduated year 1957._

Bernadette Cavendish. That is the name of her mother. The prodigy of Luna Nova at that time. Hailed by Wizarding Britain to be the greatest witch to ever come out of Luna Nova, if not Wizarding Britain, in the modern times.

And the reason Diana is denied the rights to even touch the Claiomh Solais.

"Even years after that tragic day, she continues to haunt me..." Diana muttered to herself. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as memories of the day in question surfaced.

Steeling her resolves, the ace student then suppressed her emotions and continued on her way to Broom Flying Class.

...

**Sports field**

"Alright, ladies, listen up!" The drill sergeant-like tone of Professor Nelson bellowed out of the magical megaphone she summoned out of her wand.

The entire class of first year students recoiled at the Flight Instructor's louder and more serious than usual tone.

"I am fully aware of the stereotype about Broom Flying being elegant for a true witch." Professor Nelson continued. "I'd like to say that it is all a load of crap!"

Everyone recoiled again in response to that statement.

"Professor Nelson," Diana took a step forward and said. "I believe it is improper for you to be using such vulgar languages in front of the class."

Professor Nelson shot a glare at Diana in response to that. Though Diana isn't intimidated one bit by it.

"As I was saying," The Flight Instructor continued. "there is nothing elegant about true Broom Flying..." She paused briefly to shoot another glare, this time at Amanda who is showing off among the senior students again. "and only professional stunt-witches perform acrobatics, which you will NOT be learning in this academy, ever!"

_So they never teach broom acrobatics at Luna Nova..._ Akko thought to herself. _Maybe Shiny Chariot and Amanda learned it on their own._

"In last week's class, you learned about how to simply start hovering on your brooms." Professor Nelson said as she held her broom out for emphasis. "For today's class, you ladies are going to learn about basic mid-flight maneuvering that simply gets you from Point A to Point B."

So this time it's just getting from one place to another on a broom. Akko hoped that her hovering height of inches wouldn't impact her ability to simply move around on a broom, though damn did Amanda made it look easy.

"However!" Professor Nelson added. "To ensure that nobody is sabotaging anybody, you ladies are going to be doing this _one at a time_!" The Flight Instructor then pulled out a clipboard. "When I call your name, you're going to come over here with your broom," She pointed at the small yellow flag next to her. "and then when I give you the signal, you're going to fly from here, to there." She then pointed at a small red flag a short distance away. "How fast you make the trip doesn't matter, only that you are able to do it _properly_."

All the first year students murmured something along the lines of "This should be easy." Except Diana, who gave a bored look, and Molly and Elizabeth, whom somehow looked like they've gone through this several times already.

"Alright! Enough explanation!" Professor Nelson said, grabbing everyone's attention. "First up: Alianov, Verochka!"

Verochka stepped forward. She briefly turned to give Akko a glare - much to the Japanese girl's confusion as she has no idea why the tall Russian girl did so - and then made her way toward the yellow flag. She mounted her broom and chanted the levitation spell upon getting into position.

"On your mark!" Professor Nelson informed before putting a whistle to her mouth.

As soon as the Flight Instructor blew the whistle, Verochka took off toward the red flag, at a speed no faster than an average person running. She reached the red flag without any issues.

"Well done." Professor Nelson told the tall Russian girl. "Now come back so your fellow student can have her turn."

Akko simply watched as she waited for her turn.

Once Verochka made her way back, Professor Nelson called for "Archer, Jeanne" to take her turn.

The redhead mounted her broom, and upon being given the signal to go, shot off to her destination, digging her feet into the dirt in order to slow down upon reaching the red flag.

"Using your feet to slow down from this speed is definitely something that you can do when broom flying, although Anne's not gonna be happy about how you tore up the turf doing so." Professor Nelson commented on Jeanne's performance. "That being said, well done."

Jeanne then flew back at a slower pace so there is no need for her to dig her feet into the dirt.

"Up next," Professor Nelson called out. "Cavendish, Diana!"

Diana stepped out and walked gracefully toward the yellow flag.

"Hold it!" The Flight Instructor suddenly stopped Diana. "You're not wearing your safety equipment again, Miss Cavendish!" She angrily pointed out. "And I won't let you start unless you put them on!"

Groaning in disgust, Diana went back to put on her safety helmet and parachute before returning.

"In light of your condition, Miss Cavendish," Professor Nelson reminded. "I'm going to have to ask you not to do anything that will give you a hard time breathing, even if it means giving other students a chance to do better than you."

Diana let out a softer groan. She doesn't seem happy about giving other people a chance at outperforming her.

Once Professor Nelson blew on the whistle, Diana took off toward the red flag at a moderate pace. It took her about 15 seconds to reach the red flag, which she wasn't happy about (Verochka made the trip in 13 seconds while Jeanne did it in 10). But she took it nice and slowly specifically to avoid setting off her respiratory illness, and given the obvious fact that an airborne broom is the worst possible place to have it happen, she decided to just accept the unsatisfactory result and be done with it.

As Diana rejoined the first year students and Professor Nelson called for "Chang, Lin-Lin", Akko noticed that off the distance where the senior students are supposed to be practicing what they learned from the previous semester, Hannah appears to be bullying Lotte again. Oddly enough, Barbara isn't joining in with her auburn-haired friend with bullying the Finnish girl.

Akko felt herself boiling with anger as she watched Hannah snatch Lotte's glasses off her face and then laugh about it, while Lotte sat balled up on the ground whimpering at the mere presence of the bully.

Just as Hannah looked like she is about to throw Lotte's glasses onto the ground, Barbara suddenly grabbed her friend's hand and stopped her from doing so. Barbara then proceeded to snatch the glasses from Hannah's hand, and simply placed it down in front of Lotte. After that, Barbara guided Hannah away while the latter seemed to ask the former why she did that. Lotte is confused as to why Barbara did that, and so is Akko.

"Kagari, Atsuko!"

Akko was snapped out of her thoughts when Professor Nelson called out her name.

"It's your turn right now, Kagari! So come on over with your broom!" The Flight Instructor called out again, just as Teresa Finneran walked past with a face full of mud.

Akko fumbled a bit with her broom as she made her way toward the yellow flag.

"Remember, it doesn't matter how fast you get to the red flag, only that you are able to get to it without looking like you're showing off." Professor Nelson reminded, but without her usual drill sergeant tone.

Akko then mounted on her broom, and with a chant of "_**Tia Freyle**_", she started hovering... mere inches from the ground, just like in last week's class.

However, the Japanese girl isn't going to let that get in her way. She is going to make the trip, no matter how long it takes, just so Hannah and Barbara don't get one new thing to mock her with.

"On your mark!" Professor Nelson announced for Akko to get ready.

Akko adjusted her witch hat, tightened her grip on her broom, and steeled her resolve as she waited for the Flight Instructor to give the signal.

It felt like an hour has passed before Professor Nelson blew on the whistle.

Upon hearing the whistle being blown, Akko shot off toward the direction of the red flag...

...At a slower-than-walking pace.

The combination of Akko's hovering height of inches and her slower-than-walking flight speed inevitably elicited a chorus of giggles from her fellow first year students (except Diana), causing her to blush in embarrassment as she slowly inched toward the red flag on her broom.

Akko is a bit confused by this. She was certain that she was at least average speed when she flew through the Leyline Tunnel to Blytonbury last Saturday...

Okay, so Hannah and Barbara are definitely not going to let her hear the end of this if they hear about it. However, she can still try to at least reach the red flag so that the Blue Coven bullies don't get _one more_ thing to laugh at her for.

As she slowly made her way toward her destination, Akko found herself staring at a Minotaur in janitor uniform who appears to be carrying two large wooden boxes into the main building of Luna Nova, looking around him as though making sure he isn't being watched. Akko could make out what looked like the letters "FIG" on the side of one of the boxes.

What could be in those boxes?

"Watch it, Kagari!" Professor Nelson suddenly called out, snapping Akko out of her thoughts right at the moment she bumped into the red flag and knocked it over.

That elicited yet another chorus of laughter from the other first year students (except Diana, again).

Akko quickly dismounted from her broom, and fumbled as she tried to reset the red flag. As soon as she is done with that, she scanned her surroundings for the Minotaur janitor, but he has already disappeared.

"Maybe next time, you should watch where you're going..." Professor Nelson commented on Akko's performance. "That being said, you still made the trip safely, if a bit on the slow side." She then added. "Now get back there so your fellow first years can have their turns."

Akko picked up her broom and patted off the dirt from her hands as she made her way back to rejoin the other first year students, at the same time Professor Nelson called for "King, Abigail".

"Hey, Akko..." Sucy called out as Akko neared her, holding out a glass jar toward the Japanese girl. "Mind if you spit into this jar for a bit?"

"Why?" Akko asked. "You're not going to clone me, are you?"

"No. Cloning is not my expertise." Sucy informed. "Even then, it's all pure fiction." She impatiently shook the jar before Akko's face. "Just do it, would you?"

"Alright, alright, fine..." Akko responded as she spat into the jar, which Sucy then covered with a lid, and stuffed into her sleeve. "You're not going to do anything weird with my spit, are you?"

"No." Sucy answered straightforwardly. "By the way, how's your leaf hair?"

"Leaf hair?" Akko tilted her head in confusion.

Sucy then pointed at Akko's ponytail, while trying her hardest to suppress her giggling.

Confused even further, Akko reached over her head to grab at her ponytail. "What is so funny about my ha-"

Akko froze upon realizing that where her ponytail should be, there is instead a small plant.

"About time you noticed." Sucy said as she continued to suppress her giggling.

"WHEN DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"

"Yesterday, during Professor Badcock's class..."

* * *

A Minotaur carrying two boxes labelled "FIG". Hmm, I wonder what that could be foreshadowing?

So many questions have been revealed, and yet none of them are even close to getting answered. You want to know what I'm building up to? Well, you'd just have to keep on reading, then...

Also, opportunistic Amanda is opportunistic.

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

_Afterwords end here._


	24. Supplies For the Party

**Luna Nova sports field**

With Broom Flying Class over, everyone dispersed from the sports field to do their own things or head to their next classes.

"Annabel, are you alright?" Akko, having just removed the plant from her head and restored her ponytail, asked as Lotte approached her.

"I'm fine..." Lotte responded. "Barbara suddenly stopped Hannah from breaking my glasses, but I don't know why..."

"One of the Blue hyenas stopped her friend from bullying you? When she did it all the time herself?" Sucy suddenly cut in. "Smells like hypocrisy to me..."

At that same moment, Hannah and Barbara passed by the Red Coven while flying on their brooms toward the main building. The duo paid no attention to the Red Coven as they talked to each other.

"So, Barbs, what are you going to wear to the banquet this Sunday?" Hannah asked her friend.

"Oh, I'm going to wear the purple cocktail dress that I have kept in the wardrobe since last year." Barbara answered. "What about you, Han?"

"I'm going to go with the fur-trimmed dress that my mum sent over to me on my birthday." Hannah answered back.

The Blue Coven duo's conversation has nothing to do with the Red Coven, so Akko, Lotte, and Sucy didn't mind them as they watched Hannah and Barbara pass by them.

"Speaking of the banquet..." Akko pointed out. "What are we going to wear to it? We can't just wear our uniforms or casual clothes..."

A familiar head full of red suddenly shoved herself into Akko's field of vision.

"Yo, Reds, I just heard you talking about what to wear to the banquet!" Amanda informed the Red Coven. "And I know just the place where you can get them!"

Lotte reeled back and let out a surprised yelp in reaction to Amanda's sudden appearance. But Sucy remained indifferent while Akko simply isn't surprised.

"Really? Where?" Akko asked excitedly.

"Well, first things first," Amanda said. "it's a little shop in the town, but it closes in about three hours from now-"

"Our next class isn't until-" Akko interrupted Amanda, then reached into her sleeve to pull out a folded piece of paper, which turns out to be a copy of her class timetable. "Four hours! So we still have time to get to this shop you mentioned!"

"Wow, that was quick." Amanda remarked at the speed of Akko's response. "But you sure you want to go there now?"

"Why not?" Akko answered as she raised both hands excitedly. "After all, I'm free for the next three hours!"

Amanda touched her chin. "Well, you sure are really enthusiastic about it." She then said. "But about going to town right now..."

Akko lowered both hands. "Is there a problem?"

"Well, that depends on how you define this 'problem', Miss Kagari." Professor Nelson said as she suddenly appeared behind Amanda.

Akko and Amanda started sweating nervously at the Broom Flight Instructor's presence.

"But if you want to go to the town right now, you have to go through me first." Professor Nelson then sternly informed, using her drill sergeant tone for emphasis.

Akko and Amanda both gulped nervously at that statement.

...

**Leyline Tunnel**

"Heh. I'm so used to sneaking out that I forgot you can simply inform Professor Nelson when you want to leave the campus on weekdays..." Amanda said apologetically.

As per academy policy, for students of Luna Nova to leave the campus grounds on weekdays, they will have to inform the academy's Head of Security about why they are leaving the campus, where they will be going, and for how long, which will also have to be approved by the HOS before they are allowed to make their off-campus trip, and even then they are only granted a total of two hours worth of off-campus trips per week providing that they get back to campus in time for classes or before 6 PM each day (not counting weekends where students are allowed to come and go as they please between 9 AM and 6 PM) and do _not_ have any ongoing detentions in their records.

Luckily for Akko and Amanda, Professor Nelson, who also happened to be the Head of Security, approved their trip to the town providing that they return to the campus within two hours or else she will personally come to drag them back before giving them detention.

And so Akko and Amanda finds themselves flying through the Leyline Tunnel on their way to Blytonbury, with Amanda mounted on the Shooting Star. Both girls had brought along their respective teammates.

"But if we did end up breaking the conditions that she mentioned, how is she going to find us in the first place?" Akko then brought up.

"One of my former coven mates didn't return to campus within two hours one time," Lotte gave a story. "and Professor Nelson found her at the arcade even though she said she will be at the town library."

"And one time, Heather actually decided to find out for herself by hiding in a dumpster right as her two hours is almost up." Amanda gave her own story on the subject. "The prof found her anyway and dragged her back to serve an American-styled detention for the rest of the week." The redhead continued. "I guess being former US Air Force has its merits."

_"Just wait until you hear about how Nelson managed to catch Amanda that one time!"_ The Shooting Star suddenly cut in.

"Shut up." Amanda told off the sentient broom.

...

**Last Wednesday Society; Blytonbury**

Upon reaching Blytonbury, Amanda and her Coven mates promptly led the Red Coven to a quiet part of the town, stopping at a small shop called Last Wednesday Society.

"What is this place?" Akko asked as she looked up at the weathered sign of the shop.

"The name doesn't indicate it, but this looks like a place I would like..." Sucy said as she stood herself before the display window of the shop.

"I've never heard of this place before." Lotte said.

Amanda placed herself in front of Akko and Lotte. "Well, ladies, this is the Last Wednesday Society." She introduced the shop. "It's a shop for unique magical items. If you're looking for anything magical that your typical run-of-the-mill magic supply stores don't have, then this is the place you'd come to." She continued. "It's also a cafe with all that entrails, though I wouldn't say it is as good as the standard cafe you'd find anywhere else. Not that the shopkeeper minds, though."

_"I do mind."_ Shooting Star said. _"I spent 10 years gathering dust in there until you brought me."_

Amanda shook the Shooting Star. "No one's asking you, loudmouth."

"A magic item shop that is also a cafe?" Akko continued to analyze the shop. "Looks interesting."

The girls then entered the cafe. A bell is rung as the door is pushed open.

The inside of the Last Wednesday Society is very... rundown, to say the least. It's not very well lit, and some of the furniture appears to be very old. The shelf in particular is covered in dust, though the items on it are free of any contaminants. The chairs and tables that a typical cafe would have is also short on numbers, only able to sit a grand total of 10 people despite there being enough space for 10 more. A counter with a cashier on it is placed to the left of the shop interior.

"Still don't have much customers, I see." Amanda muttered to herself.

Akko approached the shelf to look at the items on it. "These are some really weird stuff..." She commented.

Sucy approached the shelf, and immediately laid her eyes on a jar containing a strange-looking bee. "That's a Lovelove Bee. Anyone who gets stung by it will fall in love with the next person they lay their eyes on, even their own reflection in a mirror..." She said as she tapped the jar. The bee made no response whatsoever.

"That's not the real thing, young lady." Said the voice of a middle-aged man all of a sudden.

The girls turned toward the counter where the voice came from, and saw a portly middle-aged man with brown hair that reaches his shoulders.

"If you're looking for more of those Bees, then you've came to the wrong place." The man told Sucy.

Amanda stepped forward to greet the man with a wave of her free hand. "Yo, Chumlee, how are you doing?"

The man, Chumlee, sighed in response. "I'm fine. And please stop calling me that, Amanda."

"Well then, I'm here because my new friends here-" Amanda informed Chumlee, as she gestured at the Red Coven girls. "need something to wear for the upcoming banquet-"

_"So they can woo the boys that'd be coming over for the same banquet!"_ Shooting Star loudly interrupted.

Amanda disciplined the sentient broom by punching it. "Maybe Blair from the Purple Coven would _want_ to woo the boys. But that's not our intentions right now."

_"I'm just speaking my mind..."_ Shooting Star then complained.

Chumlee chuckled at the sight. "Maybe the Shooting Star being a loudmouth is why I'm glad you took it away from my hands, Amanda..."

"Anyway," The redhead resumed. "you still have that magic box from last time?"

Chumlee touched his chin. "You mean the Cinderella Magic Set?" He said. "It's been months since I put it in storage. Give me a moment, please." He added before heading into the storage room at the back of the shop. "This might take a while, so please make yourselves comfortable out there." He called out from inside the storage room as he began his search.

With the shopkeeper temporarily gone, the girls decided to sit themselves down at the tables as they waited for him to come back.

"Before you ask," Amanda took the initiative to speak. "we're on first name basis because I'm probably the only frequent customer here."

"Oh, I was going to ask just that." Akko said. "So next question: what else have you bought from here?" She then asked.

"Nothing." Amanda answered. "I always came here for the coffee. This place never had any magic items that I'm interested in. I'm only here right now because I'm helping a new friend."

"Oh. Um, thanks."

With their short conversation over, Akko and Amanda became silent. In the background, Lotte is trying to dissuade Sucy from pocketing a vial of "Frog Leg Potion", while Jasminka just casually ate out of a bag of chips as she watched Constanze tinkering with what looked like a piece of her hoverbike-broom.

"So, how's it like to have an actual celebrity as your Coven mate?" Amanda started another conversation with a new question.

Akko became confused by the question. "Celebrity? What are you talking about, Amanda?"

Amanda scoffed. "You dunce... I'm referring to the freaking creator of the cluster-eff of a franchise called _Nightfall_." She said as she pointed at Lotte. "She's Annabel Creme, ain't she?"

Lotte froze in shock upon hearing that. Though whether it's due to being reminded of the Curse of Annabel Creme, or due to Amanda just casually insulting _Nightfall_ like that, it's hard to tell.

Either way, the Finnish girl started crying before running out of the shop in tears.

"Annabel!" Akko called out as she ran after Lotte.

With Akko and Lotte having made a premature departure from the shop, Amanda turned to look at Sucy with utter confusion, to which the pale Filipino responded with a shrug as she proceeded to stuff the "Frog Leg Potion" into her sleeve.

_"Ouch..."_ The Shooting Star remarked. _"That's as if someone just told Stan Lee that Marvel is a bunch of shithole. It hurts..."_

Chumlee then emerged from the storage room with a face full of dust. "Whew. I ought to spend some time cleaning up the place..." He said as he coughed and wiped the dust off his face. "But here it is: the Cinderella Magic Set! It allows you to-" He then noticed that Akko and Lotte have disappeared from the shop. "Hey, Amanda, where did your friends go?"

"Well, uh... something came up all of a sudden, and they need some alone time..." Amanda answered.

* * *

Well, I'm glad that I'm able to get back to this...

I can't believe I put this on hiatus to work on my Dianakko Week 2020 entries which all turned out to be pieces of shit that _also_ has a poorly thought out running gag that made me look like a misogynist. It was bad enough that I decided that I'm better off disowning all seven of my Dianakko Week entries, even going so far as to orphan them all so that I don't have to see them in my AO3 feed ever again.

Let this be a lesson to my fellow fanfic writers that 1) some jokes are not funny at all, and you're better off not telling them; and 2) if you don't like a ship, then _don't_ write anything for it.

With that said... man, am I glad to be able to come back to this series...

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic."

_Afterwords end here._


End file.
